Aurat Durbar
The Court of Women
Writings by Women of South Asian Origin
edited by Fauzia Rafiq

Aurat Durbar — Hindi/Urdu for "the court of women" — invites readers into the world of women of South Asian origin. In this compelling collection of prose and poetry, thirty-one writers foreground the lives of women often made invisible, both within and outside their own cultures.

These writers — now living in Canada, the United States, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — confront us with passion and anger as they speak of racism, immigration, intolerance and sexuality. Writing from the particularities of their individual experience — of origin, caste, class, ableness, sexual orientation — they critically examine their own cultural traditions as well as their lives in their new homes. Aurat Durbar is a treasury of insights and revelations bound to surprise and entice the reader.