Ven Begamudré (born 1956) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

poet, short story writer and novelist. He was born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and moved with his family to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

when he was six. During his writing career, he has been a part of six writers-in-residence. He currently divides his time between western Canada and the island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

.Frontenac House (website)
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Personal profile

In his memoir, ''Extended Families: A Memoir of India'', Begamudré traces the history on both sides of his family in India. It was nominated for a 2018 Saskatchewan Book Award for

Regina Public Library The Regina Public Library is the citywide public library system of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The Regina Public Library is established under the provisions of ''The Public Libraries Act'', 1996. The general management, regulation, and control ...

"Book of the Year". His other works include children's books and poetry collections, including ''The Lightness Which is Our World, Seen From Afar'', published in 2006. His collection of short stories

Laterna Magika Laterna magika (), largely considered the world's first multimedia theatre, was founded as a cultural program at the 1958 Brussels Expo. It launched its official activity on 9 May 1959, as an independent company of the National Theatre, perform ...

was shortlisted for the 1997 Saskatchewan Book Awards Fiction Prize and Saskatchewan Book Awards Book of the Year. In addition to short stories and novels, Begamudré has written a biography of

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. He is best remembered for his victory at the Siege of Detroit and his death at the Battle of Quee ...

for young adults, and has edited or co-edited several literary collections. He has completed six writer-in-residence appointments including the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

's Calgary Distinguished Writers Program, the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

's Department of English, the ''Canada-Scotland Exchange'',

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

's Department of English, and the ''Yukon Public Libraries''. He has also taught fiction workshops at the ''Sage Hill Writing Experience''.Ryerson University (website)
/ref> Most recently he has been teaching at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. He has a degree in

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

and an MFA in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

from

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a required course of study, work an on-campus j ...

in Asheville, N.C. He lives in Regina,

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 ...

and on the island of Bali.

Publications

His books include: * ''Sacrifices'', Porcupine's Quill (1986) * ''A Planet of Eccentrics'' (short stories), Oolichan Books (1990) * ''Van de Graaff Days'', Oolichan Books (1993) * ''Laterna Magika'' (short stories), Oolichan Books (1997) * ''Isaac Brock: Larger than Life'' (children's biography), XYZ Pubs. (2000) * ''The Phantom Queen'' (children's fantasy), Coteau Books (2002) * ''The Lightness Which is Our World, Seen from Afar'' (poetry), Frontenac House (2006) He has also edited ''Lodestone: Stories by Regina Writers'' and co-edited ''Out of Place: Stories and Poems''. ''Vishnu Dreams'', his latest work of fiction (published 9/30/2008), combines

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

mythology with the story of a family. Through the veil of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

's unions with

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

and his incarnation in the tale of Manu and the fish, the novel portrays a pair of siblings as they navigate 1960s North American culture under the weight of their emotionally abusive father and ambitious mother.McNally-Robinson (website)
/ref>

Awards

He has received the ''F.G. Bressani Literary Prize for Prose'', the ''City of Regina Writing Award'', and prizes from various literary magazines. His second story collection, Laterna Magika, shared the ''City of Regina Book Award'' and was a best book finalist in the Canada-Caribbean region for the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

References

External links

A review of "Van de Graaff Days" on ''South of the Border, West of the Sun'' (a blog)

A review of "The Lightness Which Is Our World, Seen From Afar" by Marie Powell on PoetryReview Canada.
*
Oolichan Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begamudre, Ven Writers from Punjab, India Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers 21st-century Canadian poets Carleton University alumni 1956 births Living people Writers from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian writers of Asian descent Indian emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male poets 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Poets from Saskatchewan Novelists from Saskatchewan