Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla

Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla
Born	June 5th Kenya
Occupation	Writer/Producer
Influences Rumi, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Dorothy Parker
Official website

Los Angeles-based writer Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla was born in Mombasa, Kenya. At 13 years old, the aspiring young novelist published his first article on infertility in a national magazine VIVA. Since then he's written for various publications including Genre, Angeleno, Detour and Details and publishes the upscale lifestyle E-zine IndulgeMagazine.com

An excerpt from Ode to Lata was featured in the award-winning anthology Contours of the Heart: South Asians Map North America (Rutgers), which went on to win the 18th Annual American Book Award. The Los Angeles Times Book Review hailed Dhalla's debut as "an achievement" (Sunday, March 24th, 2002) and Christopher Rice called it "a rare, great novel" (book jacket). Ode to Lata created milestones as the first South Asian gay novel ever to be reviewed by The Los Angeles Times and to be excerpted by Genre Magazine. It was also the first account of the South Asian gay experience from an author from the African continent. The cultural and academic impact of Dhalla's debut novel was further recognized when it was presented at the Between The Lines Festival at MIT (Boston) in 2004, and added to college syllabuses around the country like California State University.

Ode to Lata was adapted for a motion picture, The Ode starring Sachin Bhatt, Wilson Cruz, and Sakina Jaffrey. Dhalla wrote the screenplay and is the Associate Producer for the film. The Ode premiered at the Oufest Film Festival on July 17th, 2008 to a sold-out audience. It was called "a beautiful portrait of the American experience for many first and second-generation Indian-Americans" (CineQueer, July 18th, 2008) and a film with performances that are "memorable" and filled with "cinematic intensity" (Planet Homo, July 19th, 2008).

Some of Dhalla's influences are Dorothy Parker, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and the poetry of Rumi.

East Indian in heritage and a passionate activist, Dhalla co-founded the South Asian program for AIDS intervention for the Asian Pacific Aids Intervention Team in Los Angeles.

In June 2007, Dhalla was listed as one of the Top 21 Tastemakers and “Most Important Movers and Shakers” in America by Genre Magazine. In August 2007, Dhalla was listed as one of the "Top 25 People Who Make Us Melt - Angelenos Who Redefine What's Hot" by Frontiers Magazine. In March 2008, Dhalla was included in Anokhi Magazine's "Sexy & Successful 2008" roster.

Works

• Ode to Lata - Novel (2002)
• The Ode - Screenplay & Associate Producer (2007)
• A - short story, Love, West Hollywood anthology (2008)
• The Two Krishnas - Novel (forthcoming)

External links

• Home page of Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla
• The Los Angeles Times Book Review of "Ode to Lata"
• Indulge Magazine
• imdb listing

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