Asian Women Writers' Collective

Founded in 1984 by writer and activist Ravinder Randhawa, this writers’ organization was at first funded by Black Ink and the Greater London Council (GLC) and later, after the GLC’s demise, by the Greater London Arts Association (until 1991) and Lambeth Council. Originally titled the Asian Women Writers’ Workshop, its members held weekly meetings during which they wrote together, shared their work and supported each other’s endeavours, in a climate where the work of Asian and Black British writers was very rarely published. Newcomers to the craft came together with more experienced writers, with core members Rukhsana Ahmad and Leena Dhingra, as well as Randhawa, co-ordinating and running the workshops.

The organization’s membership grew from eight to forty people, and produced two anthologies of short fiction and poetry, Right of Way (Women’s Press, 1988) and Flaming Spirit (Virago, 1994), as well as three self-published pamphlets, Read On, Read On 2 and When I Say No, and a newsletter Chitti (1991–3). Some of the writers involved, including Meera Syal, Tanika Gupta, Ahmad, Dhingra and Randhawa, went on to enjoy successful careers in the creative arts. The organization’s change of name – to the Asian Women Writers’ Collective – in 1986 sparked debate about whether this new name should include the word ‘Black’, thereby signalling its alliance with Afro-Caribbean women in Britain. While this was rejected, the AWWC did go on to broaden its membership to include women from other countries of Asia, including China and Korea. Cuts in its funding led to its decline and eventual demise around early 1997.