KALI THEATRE COMPANY

Rukhsana co-founded Kali Theatre Company with Rita Wolf in 1991. After touring Song for a Sanctuary, they designed and pursued a successful programme for inducting more Asian women into the theatre. As its Artistic Director for several years, Rukhsana led the company to revenue funding in 2002. Since its inception, Kali has presented scores of plays by Asian women writers.

 

In 2000 with Helena Bell and a group of experienced Kali writers and actors, Rukhsana planned and presented writing workshops for Southall Black Sisters’ Support Group for Survivors of Domestic Violence. The show, entitled Meri Kahani, was staged at Watermans Arts Centre. Following its huge success, Rukhsana curated Meri Kahani, Meri Duniya in 2002, a more elaborate programme of plays written or co-written by survivors of domestic violence who were facilitated and mentored by a team of talented Kali actors, writers and directors.

 

SADAA

Rukhsana was a founding chair and trustee of the arts and literature digital archive, SADAA, South Asian Diaspora Arts Archive (formerly SALIDAA, South Asian Literature and Arts in the Diaspora Archive). With a small group of academics and experts, including the late Lakshmi Holmström, Rukhsana chaired the SALIDAA Board for ten years. She helped to develop this digital archive into a physical one located at Brunel University. SADAA has evolved into a viable entity and is now widely available to the public as an interactive resource.

 

ASIAN WOMEN WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE

Rukhsana joined the Asian Women Writers’ Workshop, founded by Ravinder Randhawa in 1984, soon after its inception. She coordinated the Workshop’s first ever publication, Right of Way (The Women’s Press, 1986.) The group restructured itself and later morphed into the Asian Women Writers’ Collective, of which Rukhsana was one of the founding members. With Rahila Gupta, she co-edited the anthology: Flaming Spirit (Virago, 1994) to mark its tenth anniversary. By then, its membership had increased to over seventy members.

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WRITING RESIDENCIES AND EDITING

Rukhsana has held writing residencies in Cleveland, Newcastle and in the London Borough of Harrow. She has served as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow more than twice already and begins another two-year

commitment in Sept 2016. She has also served the RLF as an Advisory Fellow, a Writing Mentor and a member of the Academic Panel.

 

She was a guest-editor for the Critical Quarterly: Fiction Autumn '91 issue.

 

Flaming Spirit. Virago, 1994 co-edited with Rahila Gupta

 

We Sinful Women. The Women’s Press 1991. Editor, translator.

 

Rukhsana has also edited two community publications for her writing groups:

Dreams into Words and Daughters of the East, The Common Trust '90.