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 cap ...

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'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

,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. Rob Taylor of '' Prism International'' 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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. '' Prism International'', 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 University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

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

Personal life

She was born in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

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

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, then

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

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 Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''. 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 (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

. 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 a passenger flight operating on the Montréal–Mirabel International Airport, Montreal–Heathrow Airport, London–Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi–Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumb ...

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

, getting a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in English literature, and then an LL.B. 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 university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

. 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 Poet ...

(part of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes). *''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 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 the ...

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 and Renée Saklikar, published by Nightwood Editions. * ''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
*
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 Poets from Vancouver Writers from Pune Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Municipal poets laureate in Canada