Shashi Tharoor to headline DC South Asian Literary Festival
Leading Indian opposition parliamentarian and noted author Shashi Tharoor will open the 3rd annual DC South Asian Literary Festival in suburban Washington, DC, on May 5 at JCC Rockville, Maryland. The festival will feature many other well-known authors and poets.
Tharoor, former Under Secretary General at the United Nations, former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, has published several fiction and non-fiction books. A member of Parliament from Kerala, he is also Chairman of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers.
“One of the most well-known authors and orators Dr. Tharoor will open the literary festival along with many other well-known authors and poets, looking forward to it,” said Manoj Singh, Executive Director at DC South Asian Arts Council, the organization that hosts the festival.
Read: 2nd DC South Asian Literary Festival opens on April 16 (March 23, 2022)
The host for the evening will be Sheela Murthy, a prominent immigration lawyer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and speaker, perhaps best known as the founder and president of the Owings Mills, Maryland-based Murthy Law Firm.
Her biography by Indian author Aditi Rao, “Being Sheela: The Life Journey of an Immigration Lawyer,” was published in 2021.
A native of India, Murthy, and her husband, photographer and media specialist Vasant Nayak, established the MurthyNayak Foundation to channel their philanthropic contributions to nonprofits that serve the needs of women, children, and immigrants, particularly in education and health care.
Another noted author Arundhati Subramaniam will attend in person on Saturday, May 6. A Sahitya Academy Award winner, she has received the Raza Award for Poetry, the Zee Women’s Award for Literature, the International Piero Bigongiari Prize in Italy, the Charles Wallace, Visiting Arts and Homi Bhabha Fellowships.
First 50 registrants will get a free book “Being Sheela” by Adithi Rao)
Register today, limited seating: https://bit.ly/3TWDPLE
Questions, please write to info@dcsaff.com
The literary festival aims to highlight more South Asian talent and increase its audience and scope, according to the Council.
The 2nd annual virtual DC South Asian Literary Festival (DCSALF) last April featured a conversation between two internationally acclaimed Urdu and Hindi scholars, Gulzar and Dr. Gopi Chand Narang.
