Priya Basil was born in London to a family with Indian roots and grew up in Kenya. In 2002 she moved to Berlin, where she still lives. She has published two novels and a novella, as well as numerous essays for various publications, including the Guardian. Her fiction has been nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Basil is also the cofounder of Authors for Peace, a political platform for writers and artists, established in 2010.Her newest book is Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community, and the Meaning of Generosity.
At the Guardian Basil tagged four favorite books about feasting, including:
Reading Rawi Hage is like going to a wild party. Beirut Hellfire Society is a celebration of irreverence: people disdain religion, push through funeral processions, chuckle at burials, dance around coffins, have sex in cemeteries. War rages and destroys, but humour and desire remain irrepressible. “Laughter should be permissible under all circumstances,” reflects the main character, Pavlov. Hage tests this notion, drawing the reader into scenes of revenge, gluttony, loneliness, carnal excess – showing how even in extremis one is never far from a joke. All the while, his language explodes like the bombs falling on Beirut.Read about another entry on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
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