by Kim Davids Mandar

Toronto novelist Arif Anwar is a PhD graduate from The University of Toronto, an experienced employee who worked in poverty alleviation, public health issues and education and a teacher of Creative Writing. Arif took time out of his summer schedule to chat with me about his writing process and the inspiration behind this, his first novel, soon to be released internationally — he’s heading to New York, and Bangladesh in the fall.

Inspired by the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, in which an estimated half a million people perished overnight, The Storm interweaves five love stories that, together, chronicle fifty years of Bangladeshi history.

Jenny Bhatt has interesting coverage of Anwar’s novel here

Ryan B. Patrick shares Anwar’s insights into how he writes characters here.

Amy Shearn’s article about The Storm is here.

Read Chitra Divakaruni’s New York Times review here.