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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline OCTOBER 14, 2022 | The Indian Eye 27

Gujaratis lead the South Asian Literature

and Art (SALA) Festival in California

OUR BUREAU presenting the festival in partnership
with Stanford Center for South Asia &
San Francisco, CA
UC Berkeley Institute for South Asian
ix American Indians of Gujarati Studies.
origin, all eminent authors and SALA Festival is planned on Oc-
Spoets with award-winning books tober 29-30th, 2022, (Saturday-Sun-
to their credit, are the participants of day) from Noon – 6:30 pm at the very
the 4th South Asian Literature and picturesque Montalvo Arts Center in
Art (SALA) Festival, held annually in Saratoga. Audiences can participate
the Bay Area, California, USA, and or- in discussions with authors and at-
ganized by Art Forum SF, a non-profit tend the book signing. There will be
devoted to South Asian culture, based intense as well as light-hearted panel
in San Francisco. discussions, readings from books and
These six include poet and novel- of poems by authors, an art exhibition
ist Amit Majmudar, the first Poet Lau- and art walks, and a special cookery
reate of Ohio (2015), short story writer book panel discussion, given the grow-
and translator Jenny Bhatt known for ing popularity of Indian meals and
her translation of popular Gujarati snacks across the USA. Spread across
writer Dhumketu’s works, Salil Tripa- the Montalvo grounds will be popular
thi, current Chair of PEN Internation- ‘corners’ such as the Marketplace and
al’s Writers in Prison Committee and Food & Drink Junction, Crafts & Arts
contributing editor to Mint and Car- activities for kids, Henna application,
avan, hot shot chef Preeti Mistry who Rangoli demonstrations, and so on.
was a contestant on Top Chef Season The featured artists and writers in the
6 and author of The Juhu Beach Club panels are as follows:
Cookbook, Hetal Vasavada, the only The Contemporary Art Walk will
vegetarian contestant on MasterChef be organized with well-known artist
Season 6 and author of a popular blog, and director of the prestigious South
Milk and Cardamom which is also Asian Creative Collective in New
now a book, and Vina Patel, whose York, Jaishri Abichandani, and will
book From Gujarat with Love: 100 highlight artists Annu Matthew, Ranu
Authentic Indian Vegetarian Recipes, Mukherjee, and Sara Ahmad. Well-
published last year is already mak- known art collectors and art institute
ing waves. In addition to these six, is founders, Drs. Shireen and Afzal Ah-
Vadodara-based arts writer Sandhya mad, both pioneers who have com-
(Bordewekar) Gajjar who will be in mitted their art collections toward a
a panel discussion with authors Devi significant cause, will be present and
Laskar and Sorayya Khan and Rahul interact with visitors and young art col-
& Siddharth Mehrotra, the father-son lectors.
duo, originally from Vadodara, who Contemporary Writers Row in-
are going to read their short, short cludes eminent authors like Pulitzer Soundararajan, Suraj Yengde, and Dey, Neeta Mittal, and Ettan Restau-
stories and poems about Champan- Prize-winning Ayad Akhtar, Booker journalist Salil Tripathi. And musician rant owner Ayesha Thapar.
er-Pavagadh, Gujarat’s first UNESCO prize-winning translator Daisy Rock- T M Krishna questioning the inclusivi- There will be a special event fea-
World Heritage Site, based on photo- well (she translated Tomb of Sand ty of performance space. turing eminent actresses Swara Bhask-
graphs of the site by Rahul Gajjar, a by Indian author Geetanjali Shree The Epicurean Highlights section er and Poorna Jagannathan.
Vadodara-based photographer. Cop- from the original Hindi, winner of features Sonia Chopra, editor of Bon Other Highlights of the Festival in-
ies of books by all the authors and po- the Booker 2022), and Emmy-nomi- Appetit, and a food scientist’s take on clude poetry reading curated by Shikha
ets will be available for a book signing. nated Vikram Chandra of the Sacred South Asian cuisine by prominent au- Malaviya featuring Amit Majmudar,
Founded in 2019, the 4th SALA Games fame. In addition, there will be thor Nik Sharma, a talk with Chef Kau- Monica Korde, Monica Mody, Preeti
Festival is back with a bang, presenting known authors like Alka Joshi, Chaitali sar Ahmed from Karachi Kitchens and Vangani, Sarah Mohammad, and Ur-
the in-person version after a gap of two Sen, Devi Laskar, Sorayya Khan, Amit Chef Preeti Mistry. Fiery Tales of the vashi Bahuguna. The Art Exhibition
years. The vision is bold; the theme Majmudar, Jenny Bhatt, and Zuni Great Indian Kitchen: Tales of Region- showcases local artists Chandrika Mar-
is “Humanity,” to examine how the Chopra – South Asian authors who al Cuisine will be presented by Chitri- la, Tanya Momi, and sculptor Priyanka
world has categorized each other into have made a mark on the contem- ta Banerjee, Vina Patel, and Hetal Rana. The Marketplace has Garima
boxes, a community of different colors, porary literature arena in the US. In Vasavada, alongside cookbook au- Shoes, The Peacock Avenue, Mari-
classes, and castes. SALA 2022 aims to addition, newbie fiction writers such thor Madhushree Ghosh. Audienc- gold and Saeyri, Pragati Sharma Mo-
examine and celebrate different points as Rahul Mehrotra and his poet-son es will engage in a panel discussion hanty, hands-on activities like Henna
of view but also recognize that, ulti- Siddharth will read their short stories of Wine Shine and Chicken Khura- and Rangoli, children’s crafts, dance,
mately, humanity triumphs. Art Fo- and poems. There will be discussions na with executive Chef Ajay Walia, music, painting, food, and a bar will
rum SF and Montalvo Arts Center are on hard-hitting topics with Thenmozhi Michelin Star restaurant, Chef Ranjan offer beer, wine, and soda.

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