Kathryn Hummel

About Kathryn Hummel

A native of Adelaide, South Australia and a self-described hack, Kathryn Hummel’s fiction and non-fiction has previously appeared in publications as diverse as Bread and Wine (advocating the ordination of women to the priesthood), Meanjin (one of Australia’s top literary journals), and the Spiny Babbler Anthology (available out of Kathmandu). Kathryn’s previous PopMatters offerings consist of her Travels in Little America columns, written to give outsiders an inside view of Australia; she now writes The Bengal Gaze as an outsider in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the hope of becoming less of one. Kathryn is also the author of a film/gender studies manuscript entitled Deliciously in Between: Gender Transgression and Conservatism in Celluloid Gay Best Friendship. Expressions of interest from curious publishers are always welcome!

Columns

Guided by a Bengali Poet

By Kathryn Hummel

When people ask what my Bangladesh life was like, I will say that at its best, it followed the path of the poet Jibanananda Das. [4 June 2008]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

The Rickshaw as an Endangered Species

By Kathryn Hummel

Bangladesh's endangered rickshaws and wallahs serve as brightly coloured, moving works of art, and as constant, mobile displays of human nature – often at its best. [29 February 2008]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

In Conversation with Bangladeshi Poet, Kaiser Haq

By Kathryn Hummel

There are more than a dozen languages spoken in Bangladesh. English is a presence, a second language, in which poets such as Haq can be found. [2 January 2008]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Living in a Po-Co World

By Kathryn Hummel

Expats in post-colonial Dhaka have their hearts in the right places, if their generosity at fund-raising events is anything to go by, although the end result is haphazard, like a game of ‘Pin the Conscience on the Public Servant’ that has been played their tipsy spouses. [13 November 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Sacred Ornas and Secret Longings

By Kathryn Hummel

The orna's slim fabric casts a net of symbolism and serves as a democratic garment -- for a certain class of people. [9 October 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

During the Deluge

By Kathryn Hummel

A crowd of bideshi (foreign kin) stood on the roof and watched Star Kebab burn, and the riot squad shamble in, and the sky fill with black-blue smoke. [18 September 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Travels in Little China

By Kathryn Hummel

The Chinese brand of red tape now wraps around Tibet as fiercely as the Red Guards that once invaded it. Travelers who gain access now see a Disney-fied Tibet. [16 August 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Seeking Some Reprieve

By Kathryn Hummel

I can now wrench my hand away from a doe-eyed child miming hunger and clinging to me without losing my stride. One’s brain, as well as one’s bowels, are not always all right in Bangladesh. [21 June 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Dr. Dhaka’s Lonely Hearts Club

By Kathryn Hummel

For the Bengalis, dating and marriage are integrally intertwined with familial love. For a single female visitor, a creative spin on extended family relations helps with the curious doorman. [24 May 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

Deep ’Desh

By Kathryn Hummel

The minute I step out of my flat, Bangladesh drags me into its unique intensity; and without home as a point of reference, I am left without my level of reasoning. [18 April 2007]

(more The Bengal Gaze)

My Wandering Days

By Kathryn Hummel

Our intrepid traveller summarizes many journeys past, as she prepares for another in Bengal. [13 March 2007]

(more Travels in Little America)

Women of the Evolution: (Another) Discussion of Chick Lit

By Kathryn Hummel

If literary genres were a feast, chick lit would be the coconut soufflé. Dessert, anyone? [20 February 2007]

(more Travels in Little America)

A New Year’s Career

By Kathryn Hummel

Mental note: sincerity doesn't count for much in the job-hunting game. [15 January 2007]

(more Travels in Little America)

Five Years’ Moldering, Now

By Kathryn Hummel

As in all the human rights violations going on at Guantánamo Bay, the US has, with Australia's help, betrayed its traditions of upholding civil and international rights to rationalise its (in)actions in David Hick's case. [2 January 2007]

(more Travels in Little America)

Bridesmaids Revisited

By Kathryn Hummel

Take it from someone who knows, really knows; bridesmaiding is not glamorous work, but a hard slog at buffering the bride and groom in the social occasion war zone -- you are putting your body on the line. [21 November 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)

Reel Australia

By Kathryn Hummel

Hummel used to dread, simply dread, Australian-made films. But a number of recently discovered intelligent, evocative films have her singing her creative countrymen's praises. Here are some movies you shouldn't miss. [18 October 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)

I Am / We Are / You May or May Not Be, Depending

By Kathryn Hummel

Maybe it's quite enough to try to sell the idea of Australia as a 'somewhat tolerant' country rather than a 'multicultural' one, with all the latter's suggestions of actual unity. [21 September 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)

Little Americans: They’re Everywhere!

By Kathryn Hummel

There's probably not a single place on earth where one won't run into an Australian. Hummel speculates on what compels her people to travel so. [7 August 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)

Invasion of the McMansions

By Kathryn Hummel

A look at what the relentess tide of change dragged in to Adelaide's shores. [19 July 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)

Little America’s Term of Love

By Kathryn Hummel

While peering 'down' at Australia from on-high (or rather, up north) through one's proverbial binoculars, one might get the impression this country is closer to North America -- perhaps uncomforably closer -- than mere geography might imply. Hummel hopes that is but a trick of the light... and other changeable circumstances. [12 June 2006]

(more Travels in Little America)