South Asian Literature and Art Festival coming to Saratoga

The two-day event will bring in 40 artists and writers.

A two-day multidisciplinary event highlighting local, national and international writers and artists and representing South Asian culture is coming to Saratoga.

The South Asian Literature and Art Festival runs Oct. 29-30, noon-6 p.m., at the Montalvo Arts Center, 15400 Montalvo Road.

Organizers said the event aims “to contribute to the literary and cultural life of the residents of Silicon Valley.” The event will focus on the theme of “Humanity,” examining stereotypes based on race, class and gender.

Specifically, the festival will highlight South Asian culture to spark engagement between authors and Bay Area audiences.

More than 40 authors and artists will host forums and conversations to examine and highlight different points of view at venues across Montalvo’s historic villa and property.

There will be book sales and author signings, art exhibitions and sales, children’s craft activities, dance, music, poetry and painting.

The festival is being put on by Art Forum SF and Montalvo Arts Center in partnership with the Stanford University Center for South Asian Studies and the UC Berkeley Institute of South Asian Studies.

Here’s a look at the schedule:

Saturday, Oct. 29

noon-1 p.m.

• “Breaking Barriers” with Jaistri Abichandani & Vikram Chandra
• “The Henna Artist” with Alka Joshi & Aarti Johri
• “The Stones Speak” with Rahul Mehrotra & Siddharth Mehrota

1:05 p.m.

• Book signing with Vikram Chandra and Dr. Suraj Yengde

1:30 p.m.

• Book readings curated by Shikha Malaviya featuring Aditi Malhotra, Neerja Raman and Saila Kariat

2-3 p.m.

• “On a High Note” with musician TM Krishna
• “Threshold of Contemporary Art” with Annu Palakunnathu Mathew, Ranu Mukherjee, Sarah Ahmad and Apoorva Bakshi
• “Sacred Games to Geek Sublime” with author Vikram Chandra

3:05 p.m.

• Book signing with Zuni Chopra

3:30-4:30 p.m.

• “Homeland Elegies” with Ayad Akhtar, Dr. Anuradha and Luther Moitra
• “Uncaste the Duality” with Dr. Suraj Yengde and Davan Maharaj
• “Stepping into Words” with Pavita Singh and Zuni Chopra

4:35 p.m.

• Book signings with Ayad Akhtar and Alka Joshi

5:30-6:30 p.m.

• Tipu in conversation with Swarta Bhasker

Sunday, Oct. 30

noon-1 p.m.

• “H’Art of Giving” with Afzal Ahmad, Shireen Ahmad and Robert Mintz
• “Wine and Shine and Chicken Khurana” with Chef Ajay Walia, Ayesha Thapar (Ettan), Neeta Mittal, Chef Ranjan Dey and Ritu Marwah
• “South Asian Landing” with Amit Majmudar, Jenny Bhatt and Vishal Ganesan

1:05 p.m.

• Book signings with Amit Majmudar and Jenny Bhatt

1:30 p.m.

• Poetry readings curated by Shikha Malaviya featuring Amit Majmudar, Monica Mody, Monica Korde, Preeti Vangani and Sarah Mohammad

2-3 p.m.

• “How Onions Brown” with chefs Kauser Ahmed, Nik Sharma, Preeti Mistry and Sonia Chopra
• “Arrived!” with Devi Laskar, Sorraya Khan and Sandhya Gajjar
• “Contemporary Discord” with Thenmozhi Soundararajan and Rajisvini Bhansali

3:05 p.m.

• Book signings with Nik Sharma, Preeti Mistry, Devi Laskar, Sorayya Khan and Thenmozhi Soundararajan

3:30-4:30 p.m.

• “Found in Translation” with Daisy Rockwell and Moazzam Shiekh
• “Fiery Tales of the Great Indian Kitchen” with Hetal Vasavada, Chitrita Banerji, Madhushree Ghosh, Vina Patel and Ritu Marwah
• “The Conscious Objector” with Chaitali Sen, Salil Tripathi and Raji Pillai

4:35 p.m.

• Book signings with  Daisy Rockwell, Moazzam Sheikh, Madhushree Ghosh, Chitrita Banerji, Vina Patel, Hetal Vasavada, Salil Tripathi and Chaitali Sen

5:30-6:30 p.m.

• Conversations with Poorna Jagannathan

For more information, visit https://montalvoarts.org/experience/community-events/sala.