British-Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie is offering a fiction writing masterclass on Thursday as an effort to raise funds for people affected by the floods.
On Wednesday, she tweeted the sign-up information through a poster. “Still time to sign up for this! All funds raised will benefit flood affected families — that’s the most important part. Also, I’ll say some stuff about writing and answer some of your questions,” she wrote.
The session will be held on September 8, 8pm PST. All raised funds will benefit flood affected families in upper Sindh. This class comes under author Fatima Bhutto, artist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Menaal Munshey’s initiative called Indus Relief 2022.
To be applicable for the session, there are two simple steps — one to make a donation to the Indus Relief 2022 GoFundMe page, which has a minimum donation amount of $45. For Pakistanis, a minimum of Rs3,500 is to be donated to one of the partner charities; the Legal Aid Society, Edhi Foundation or the Childlife Foundation. Step two is to email the receipt to thewritingroomco@gmail.com.
The pioneering event for Indus Relief 2022 was a writing masterclass with Mohsin Hamid. Fatima revealed the action plan and said they are fundraising for NGOs and local hospitals. The creative way they have decided to go about it is by arranging a series of events including an online auction, a masterclass and direct donations.
Among the many experiences being auctioned were a private screening of Jemima Khan’s new film What’s Love Got To Do With It and original artwork by Misha Japanwala.
Pakistan has been struck hard by the floods and over 30 million people have been displaced. If you want to donate to flood relief efforts in Pakistan, you can also consider one of the organisations on our extensive list.