Writing with South Asian Ghazals and Qawwalis [Shankar Narayan]

All Levels | This class explores two of the most popular South Asian poetic and musical forms. Ghazals will need no introduction to most—but while there has been much analysis of the ghazal’s evolution in English, how the ghazal works as popular art is less accessible to Western writers. Qawwalis, on the other hand, are a form of Sufi devotional music whose purpose is to evoke oneness with the divine. We’ll listen to versions of ghazals and qawwalis, read translations, consider what makes these forms work, and create our own new works alongside this incredibly powerful music and verse. Come ready to write.