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

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed b ...

,Smith, Charlie.
Renee Sarojini Saklikar draws large crowd to SFU Woodward's for launch of new book of poems

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. ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

''. November 14, 2013. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. she married

Adrian Dix Adrian Dix (born April 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia. In addition to serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) ...

. Rob Taylor of ''

Prism International ''Prism International'' (styled ''PRISM international'') is a magazine published quarterly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1959, it is Western Canada's senior literary magazine. The magazine was started with name ''Prism'' ...

'' wrote in 2013 that "If you've spent much time in Vancouver's literary community, you've probably heard of, or run into, Renée Saklikar."Taylor, Rob.
in the power of spirits – "children of air india" by Renée Sarojini Saklikar

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. ''

'', Creative Writing Program of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. November 8, 2013. Retrieved on November 22, 2014.

Personal life

She was born in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India. After moving to Canada from India, Saklikar had lived in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, then

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

as well as other places where she did not spend as much time. She then moved to New Westminster.Lederman, Marsha.
Poet's new book communes with the ghosts of the Air India bombing
" ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. Retrieved on November 22, 2014. Saklikar's father was the Rev. Vasant Saklikar, a minister of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

. He was a Hindu who, after arriving in Canada, converted to Christianity. Zebunnisa Jethwa and Umar Jethwa, Saklikar's aunt and uncle, perished on

Air India Flight 182 Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to Lond ...

. A gynecologist and a surgeon, respectively, the two were Indians visiting relatives in the Vancouver area. Saklikar was one of the interview subjects of the film ''

Air India 182 Air India Flight 182 was an Air India flight operating on the Montreal– London– Delhi–Bombay route. On 23 June 1985, it was operated using Boeing 747-237B registered ''VT-EFO''. It disintegrated in mid-air en route from Montreal to L ...

'', and her mother Bhanu Saklikar, was also interviewed. She attended the

, getting a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English literature, and then an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1990. In 1991 she was called to the British Columbia Bar. She had been trained as a barrister and solicitor.Renée Sarojini Saklikar

.

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

. Retrieved on November 22, 2014.

Writing career

Saklikar was originally a lawyer, but as she grew older she became a poet and writer. In 2010, she graduated from the Writers Studio of the Continuing Studies Department at

; she stated that the Writers Studio had revealed to the world that she was a poet. Saklikar co-founded the Lunch Poems reading series of Simon Fraser University. As of 2014 she serves as an instructor and writing mentor for the SFU Continuing Studies department. Saklikar served as Poet Laureate for the City of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada from 2015-2018. As of February 2021, she serves on the boards of ''Turning Point Ensemble, Poetry Canada, the Surrey International Writers Conference and The Ormbsy Review.''

Awards

* Saklikar was awarded the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry in 2014 for her book, ''children of air india''. * Saklikar's book of poetry, ''children of air india'', was a finalist for the

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, established in 1986, is awarded annually to the best collection of poetry by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. One of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, the award was originally known as the B.C. Prize for Poetry. ...

(part of the

BC and Yukon Book Prizes The BC Book & Yukon Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia and Yukon writers and publishers. The prizes, as well as the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutena ...

). *''The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them'', which Saklikar co-edited, was shortlisted for the 2016 City of Vancouver Book Award. * A chapbook, ''After the Battle of Kingsway, the bees,'' (above/ground press, 2016), was a finalist for the 2017 bpNichol award. *''Listening to the Bees'' received the Gold Medal for the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Environment/Ecology category.

Works

* '' children of air india: un/authorized exhibits and interjections'' (Nightwood Editions, 2013), a book of poetry * ''air india edacted silence & longing 30 years since flight 182:'' A collaboration wit
Turning Point Ensemble
*
The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them
' (Anvil Press/SFU Public Square, 2015), co-edited by

Wayde Compton Wayde Compton (born 1972) is a Canadian writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Compton has published books of poetry, essays, and fiction, and he edited the first comprehensive anthology of black writing from British Columbia. He co ...

and Renée Saklikar, was co-published by

Anvil Press A multi-anvil press, or anvil press is a type of device related to a machine press that is used to create extraordinarily high pressures within a small volume. Anvil presses are used in materials science and geology for the synthesis and study th ...

and SFU Public Square. *''Thot-J-Bap:'' A visual/poetry collaboration with Chris Turnbull (2016) *
Listening to the Bees
' (Nightwood Editions, 2018), co-written by

Mark Winston Mark L. Winston is a Canadian biologist and writer.

and Renée Saklikar, published by

Nightwood Editions ''Nightwood'' is a 1936 novel by American author Djuna Barnes that was first published by publishing house Faber and Faber. It is one of the early prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality between women, and as such can be considered l ...

. *
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 wit
Turning Point Ensemble

''thecanada?project''
- a lifelong poem chronicle about place, identity, language.

References

External links

Thecanadaproject

Articles mentioning Renée Saklikar
- ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

''
Wax Poetic Nov 04 Renee Saklikar
-

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*
Renée Sarojini Saklikar
" Harbour Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saklikar, Renee Sarojini 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women poets Living people Indian emigrants to Canada Lawyers in British Columbia People from New Westminster Simon Fraser University alumni Academic staff of Simon Fraser University University of British Columbia alumni Writers from Vancouver Writers from Pune Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Poets Laureate of places in Canada