INTERPRETING PARTITION through poetry

Doors open at 1:45 PM

READINGS BY...

SHIKHA MALAVIA is a poet, writer, and publisher. Her latest book, Anandibai Joshee: A Life in Poems (HarperCollins India), reimagines the groundbreaking journey of India's first female physician and the first Indian woman to study medicine in the US in the 19th century. Her earlier collection, Geography of Tongues, explores themes of identity and belonging. Shikha’s poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart prize as well as featured in Prairie Schooner, PLUME, Catamaran, and other distinguished journals. She was chosen as Poet Laureate of San Ramon, California (2016) and has been a TEDx speaker. As co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, curator at the South Asian Literature & Arts Festival (SALA) festival as well as a Mosaic America Fellow, Shikha works to amplify diverse voices in contemporary poetry. Shikha is a member of the SF Writers Grotto and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

DEVI S LASKAR is a poet & novelist, artist, photographer, songwriter, former newspaper reporter. Her debut poetry collection, Self-Portraits Ex Machina is out now from Finishing Line Press. Laskar is the author of the award-winning novel, The Atlas of Reds and Blues, and recently, Circa, a GOOP Book Club selection. Her third novel, Midnight, At The War is out now from Mariner Books. In 2022, USA Today named her one of 50 AAPI authors to read. She holds degrees from Columbia University, University of Illinois and UNC-Chapel Hill. She now lives in California with her family.

SOPHIA NAZ is a bilingual poet, artist and translator. She has authored the poetry collections Bark Archipelago (Weavers Press, San Francisco & Red River India, 2023), Open Zero (Yoda Press 2021), Pointillism (Copper Coin 2017), Date Palms (City Press, 2017), Peripheries (Cyberhex, 2015 )and Shehnaz, a biography (Penguin Random House, 2019) Her latest poetry manuscript, Indus Taan, is a finalist for the Black Lawrence Press Immigrant Writing Series. She is found online at SophiaNaz.com.

HARLEEN SERAI came back to poetry writing after spending two decades coding. Using materials at hand — linoleum kitchens, rivers and their tongues, creatures that share this Earth, the moon, the smell of jasmine, the pink of sunrise — she writes about love and wonder. She writes in grief of what is lost and with the hope of what is to come. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Saint Mary's College of California and a Bachelor of Software Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia. Find her poetry and Punjabi translations at harleenserai.com.

BOOK SIGNING

Authors will be availabe to sign copies of their books which can be purchased at the event.

Pre-registration is required. The event is free. Donations are optional.

Street parking is available in abundance in the area, some with 2 hour limit and some unlimited (please note the posted signs). Our block is also serviced by the AC Transit Bus 12, Bus 22 and Bus F. Additionally Bus 18 stops just two blocks away, while the Ashby BART Station is just a 7 minute walk from here. The event space is wheel chair accessible.

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