South Asian Literary Fest

Mixed Messages, a literary festival  sponsored by the South Asian Women's Creative Collective, takes place Friday through Sunday, May 19-21,  at Marymount Manhattan College in NYC.  Lots of writers and artists will speak and present workshops, but of particular interest to us kid lit folks is the following:

Saturday, May 20, from 11 to 1. Free!

Pooja Makhijani, editor  of Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America, moderates a panel discussion on South Asian youth literature. Participants include Mitali Perkins (yay for Monsoon Summer!), Ruth Jeyaveeran (The Spectacular Adventures of Sophie and Sebastian), Marina Budhos (Ask Me No Questions), and Monika Jain (editor of the children's literary magazine Kahani.)

For some background on these writers, here are some links.  I mentioned Pooja Makhijani's excellent bibliography of South Asian children's books last summer. You can also read a Chicken Spaghetti review of Monsoon Summer from January. Cynthia Leitich Smith interviewed Marina Budhos at the blog Cynsations back in February.
Cyeeranuth Jeyaveeranth Jeyaveeran
Also this weekend: the enormous trade show BookExpo America takes over the Washington Convention Center in D.C.

Comments

[Pooja]

Thanks, Susan, for blogging about this! Will send you a full report on it after the weekend.

Pooja

[Susan]

Terrific!