The First Biennial Norman Cutler Conference on South Asian Literature (Part 5)

The Norman Cutler Conference on South Asian Literature (COSAL) honors the life and work of the late Norman Cutler, former Professor of Tamil in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations.The purposes of the conference are:* to create an expanded presence for South Asia in the fields of creative writing and comparative literature;* to create an international forum for contemporary South Asian literatures;* to encourage the interaction of scholars, translators, and U.S. readers generally, with South Asian writers.The 2007 conference featured the work of the Tamil author “Salma” [R.A. Rokkiah, b. 1968], a Muslim woman who has recently catapulted into public controversy over her frank poetry on the female body.