Manahil Bandukwala

I completed my BA in English from Carleton in 2020, and have since gone on to complete my MA and publish books. My writing life is greatly informed by my time at Carleton, from the creative writing courses to my involvement with the then-running student magazine In/Words. The poetry workshop in particular introduced me to numerous poets whose work is still influential on my writing today. I met and connected with poets in Ottawa’s literary scene through events like the Spring Extravaganza, some of whom are very close friends and writing champions today! The department prizes like the Lilian I. Found Award and George Johnston Poetry Prize were the first literary awards I ever won, and they helped boost me as a writer so much.

My debut poetry collection, MONUMENT (Brick Books, 2022), was written during my time at Carleton, and has been influenced by the courses I was taking at the time of writing. Additionally, my multidisciplinary project, Reth aur Reghistan, an exploration of Pakistani folklore, received a lot of support from professors at Carleton and the earliest grants I secured for the project were thanks to this support. Years later, I have completed an artist residency for the project and have a book of stories, visual art, and poems called Women Wide Awake (Mawenzi House, 2023).

I’m continuously working on projects, which you can follow on my website www.manahilbandukwala.com.