A panel of notable Desi authors present their works in celebration of the library's special event, Desi Day. Signing to follow.
Featured authors:
Ambreen Butt-Hussain is the author of the debut middle-grade novel, "The Unlovable Alina Butt." Ambreen was born in Pakistan but lived in England and Scotland before finally settling in Canada for many years. She has a bachelor of science from the University of Toronto and a master of education from Queen’s University. She continues to move around and has recently made Princeton, New Jersey her new home, with her husband and two sons. She is ecstatic to be turning her book into a series. The second part, You’re Out of Luck, Alina Butt, is coming out May 2025!
Pallavi Sharma Dixit was born in India and raised in New Jersey. She was a winner of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Pages in Progress Prize for Edison, her debut novel. Her work has been supported by the First Pages Prize, the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship Program, Intermedia Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Loft Literary Center, and the Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Program. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and she lives in Minneapolis with her husband, two children, and their dog.
Allie Nava is a Harvard-trained American author, board director and advisor, and former award-winning leader and writing advisor, who has advised 1000+ organizations on leadership, excellence, value creation, and resilience. As a child, she survived a violent personal attack during political massacres that left hundreds of others dead, and then years of devastating fallout thereafter. Inspired by those events, as well as decades of her work as a builder and leader of innovative organizations, her writing explores the nature of reality, perception, and beliefs, and our ability to shape them to live more positive and resilient lives. Allie is the author of the survival adventure and modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary odds, "July and Everything After," which was named a First Horizon Award Finalist, a distinction presented to celebrate superior debut works, and named to the Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Shortlist, and Hawthorne Prize Shortlist. She also has been a contributor to academic, trade, and policy publications. Allie has been an invited speaker at ideas festivals, universities, conferences, and more.
Nisha Sharma is a YA and adult contemporary romance writer living in the Philly suburbs with her Alaskan husband, and a plethora of animals named after characters in literature. Her books have been included in best-of lists by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Time Magazine and more. Before she left the corporate world, Nisha spearheaded DEI initiatives at billion dollar companies. She has continued her advocacy work by fighting for marginalized authors in publishing. When she’s not writing about people of color experiencing radical joy or teaching about inclusivity, Nisha can be found hitting the books for her Ph.D. in English and Social Justice.
Gita Varadarajan is the acclaimed author of multiple Scholastic publications including "Save Me a Seat," "My Bindi" and "My Saree." Gita is a sought-after guest author and speaker at schools across the country, where she inspires children to create stories in their own voices. A frequent panelist at children’s book ceremonies, Gita has more than two decades of teaching experience. Currently, Gita teaches fourth graders in Princeton Public Schools. Gita has a Masters in Literacy Instruction, from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Moderator:
Ambreen Ali is a freelance reporter based in Hopewell and the founder of Central Desi, a newsletter by and about South Asians in New Jersey. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fortune Magazine, Agence France Presse, Edible Jersey and The Counter.
Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
AGE GROUP: | All Ages | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Lectures & Panels | Author Talks | *No Registration |
TAGS: | Desi Day | AANHPI Month |
