Renée Sarojini Saklikar

Renée Sarojini Saklikar is an Indian-born Canadian lawyer, poet and author. Raised in

Saklikar's father was the Rev. Vasant Saklikar, a minister of the United Church of Canada.^[5] He was a Hindu who, after arriving in Canada, converted to Christianity.^[6] Zebunnisa Jethwa and Umar Jethwa, Saklikar's aunt and uncle, perished on Air India Flight 182.^[1] A gynecologist and a surgeon, respectively, the two were Indians visiting relatives in the Vancouver area.^[4] Saklikar was one of the interview subjects of the film Air India 182,^[7] and her mother Bhanu Saklikar, was also interviewed.^[8][9]

She attended the

Saklikar was originally a lawyer, but as she grew older she became a poet and writer.[4] In 2010,^[11] she graduated from the Writers Studio of the Continuing Studies Department at Simon Fraser University;^[12] she stated that the Writers Studio had revealed to the world that she was a poet.^[13] Saklikar co-founded the Lunch Poems reading series of Simon Fraser University.^[2] As of 2014 she serves as an instructor and writing mentor for the SFU Continuing Studies department.^[11] Saklikar served as Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada from 2015-2018.^[14] As of February 2021, she serves on the boards of Turning Point Ensemble, Poetry Canada, the Surrey International Writers Conference and The Ormbsy Review.^[15]

Awards

• Saklikar was awarded the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry in 2014 for her book, children of air india.^[16]
• Saklikar's book of poetry, children of air india, was a finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize (part of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes).^[17]
• The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them, which Saklikar co-edited, was shortlisted for the 2016 City of Vancouver Book Award. ^[18]
• A chapbook, After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees, (above/ground press, 2016), was a finalist for the 2017 bpNichol award.^[19]
• Listening to the Bees received the Gold Medal for the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Environment/Ecology category.^[20]

Works

• children of air india: un/authorized exhibits and interjections (Nightwood Editions, 2013),^[21] a book of poetry^[1]
• air india [redacted]: silence & longing 30 years since flight 182: A collaboration with Turning Point Ensemble^[22]
• The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (Anvil Press/SFU Public Square, 2015), co-edited by Wayde Compton and Renée Saklikar, was co-published by Anvil Press and SFU Public Square.
• Thot-J-Bap: A visual/poetry collaboration with Chris Turnbull (2016)^[23]
• Listening to the Bees (Nightwood Editions, 2018), co-written by
  Mark Winston and Renée Saklikar, published by Nightwood Editions.^[24]
• After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees (above/ground press, 2016), is a chapbook which contain parts of THOT-J-BAP, an epic sci-fi journey poem that Saklikar has been writing.
• Bee Studies: A collaboration with Turning Point Ensemble.^[25]
• thecanada?project - a lifelong poem chronicle about place, identity, language. ^[26]

See also

• Indo-Canadians in Greater Vancouver

References