Shuchi Saraswat is the winner of the 2012 Gulliver Travel Grant awarded by the Speculative Literature Foundation.

Saraswat plans to use the $800 grant to travel to elephant sanctuaries to research the relationship between elephants and their caretakers, which relates to her novel in progress about a family curse from Hindu mythological times that is tied to the well-known story of how the Hindu god Ganesha got his elephant head. Excerpts of her novel have recently won her a residency at Writers Omi at Ledig House and the 2012 Writers’s Room of Boston Ivan Gold Fellowship in Fiction.

The Travel Grant judges said of Saraswat’s entry, “The excerpt contains unusual, resonant conflict, well-drawn characters, and a solid mythic feel with overtones of magic realism. The swift narrative is engaging and entertaining. We definitely want more of the story.” 

Saraswat teaches creative writing at Grub Street, Inc, including a workshop in Magical Realism.

Also shortlisted were: Richard Larson, Monica Byrne, Bonnie-Ann Lynch Black, Maureen McGuirk, Rion Scott, and David Sullivan.

“Speculative literature,” explains the SLF’s press release, “is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard and soft science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern mythmaking — any literature containing a fabulist or speculative element.”

The full press release follows the jump.

SPECULATIVE LITERATURE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES GULLIVER TRAVEL GRANT WINNER

For Immediate Release: Nov 24, 2012

The Speculative Literature Foundation is delighted to announce that Shuchi Saraswat is the winner of the 2012 Gulliver Travel Grant.

Saraswat’s novel traces a family curse from Hindu mythological times as it weaves through generations of one family. The curse is tied to the well-known story of how the Hindu god Ganesha got his elephant head, and so Saraswat plans to use the $800 grant to travel to elephant sanctuaries to research the relationship between elephants and their caretakers.

The Travel Grant judges said of Saraswat’s entry, “The excerpt contains unusual, resonant conflict, well-drawn characters, and a solid mythic feel with overtones of magic realism. The swift narrative is engaging and entertaining. We definitely want more of the story.” Excerpts of her novel have recently won her a residency at Writers Omi at Ledig House and the 2012 Writers’s Room of Boston Ivan Gold Fellowship in Fiction.  She teaches creative writing at Grub Street, Inc, including a workshop in Magical Realism.

Also shortlisted were: Richard Larson, Monica Byrne, Bonnie-Ann Lynch Black, Maureen McGuirk, Rion Scott, and David Sullivan, for their excellent and thought-provoking submissions, which made the selection of the eventual winner a difficult but enjoyable process.

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The Speculative Literature Foundation is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the interests of readers, writers, editors and publishers in the speculative literature community.

“Speculative literature” is a catch-all term meant to inclusively span the breadth of fantastic literature, encompassing literature ranging from hard and soft science fiction to epic fantasy to ghost stories to folk and fairy tales to slipstream to magical realism to modern mythmaking — any literature containing a fabulist or speculative element.

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