South Asian Literature & Art Festival

A two-day, multidisciplinary event featuring presentations and panels by more than 40 highly-acclaimed local, national, and international authors and artists covering a variety of topics.  

The South Asian Literature and Art Festival (SALA) aims to contribute to the literary and cultural life of the residents of Silicon Valley. The 2022 event focuses on a theme of “Humanity” by examining how the world tends to put people in boxes, categorizing and generalizing communities of different color, class, gender, and caste. The forums and conversations will examine and celebrate different points of view, while also recognizing that ultimately, it is a shared humanity that triumphs. 

This expertly-curated event will represent South Asian culture to a broad Bay Area audience, providing a platform to spark engagement between distinguished authors and the diverse audiences of Silicon Valley, many of whom may have had little opportunity to experience the talent and voices coming out of South Asia and its diaspora.

Discussions will take place in venues around Montalvo’s historic Villa and property, and visitors can also enjoy book sales and author signings presented by Books, Inc., a marketplace, art exhibition & sale, children’s craft activities, dance, music, poetry, and painting. Food will be available for purchase, and a bar will offer beer, wine, and soda.

SALA is presented by Art Forum SF and Montalvo Arts Center in partnership with the Stanford University Center for South Asia and the UC Berkeley Institute of South Asian Studies.

Panelist & Participant Schedule:

Saturday, October 29:

12–1pm:

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

1:05pm:

• Book signings: Vikram Chandra, Dr. Suraj Yengde

1:30pm:

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

2–3pm:

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

3:05pm:

• Book signing: Zuni Chopra

3:30–4:30pm:

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

4:35pm:

• Book signings: Ayad Akhtar, Alka Joshi

5:30–6:30pm:

• Tipu in conversation with Swara Bhasker

Sunday, October 30

12–1pm:

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

1:05pm:

• Book signings: Amit Majmudar, Jenny Bhatt

1:30pm:

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

2–3pm:

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

3:05pm:

• Book signings: Nik Sharma & Preeti Mistry, Devi Laskar & Sorayya Khan, Thenmozhi Soundararajan

3:30–4:30pm:

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

4:35pm:

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

5:30–6:30pm:

• Conversation with Poorna Jagannathan

All Weekend: 

Also Included:

• Art Exhibition and Sale featuring Chandrika Marla, Priyanka Rana, and Tanya Momi
• Marketplace featuring The Peacock Avenue, Marigold Row, Saeyri Jewlery , Pragati Sharma Mohanty – Art stoles, and Artisans by Garima
• Delicious food for sale from Curry Up Now and Pav Bhaji Hut

No parking on site.

Free shuttle service to the event will be available from West Valley College, Parking Lot 4.

Rideshare (Taxi/Lyft/Uber) drop-offs will be allowed, but no pick-ups. If you are using a rideshare service, please take the shuttle to West Valley when you depart and call from there.

Get your tickets:

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The safety of our visitors and staff is of the utmost importance to us, and we will be following all county and state health mandates in place at the time of this event. Masks are recommended and encouraged while indoors and while riding shuttles.