Indiaspora announces DiasporaNEXT Author's Roundtable, showcasing stories written about and rooted in the Indian diaspora community. Register here.

This event is part of Indiaspora's new DiasporaNEXT initiative, which aims to foster dialogue and action on key 21st century issues among the rising Indian Diaspora community (aged 21-35).

The Author's Roundtable will be DiasporaNEXT's kickoff event, featuring some incredible women who have used their talents to tell important stories.

The lineup includes:

Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers, soon to be a series produced by Mindy Kaling.

• Gold Diggers is Sanjena Sathian’s debut novel and a soon-to-be series by Mindy Kaling. Sanjena has also written award winning short fiction, appearing in Conjunctions, Boulevard, Joyland, Salt Hill, and The Master’s Review. She’s written nonfiction for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, TIME, Food and Wine, and more. Sanjena has also taught creative writing to high school, college, graduate, and post-graduate level students in Iowa, Alaska, India, and New Zealand.

Laxmi Parthasarathy, COO of Global Press and contributing author of the anthology Kamala Harris and the Rise of Indian Americans.

• Over her career, Laxmi Parthasarathy has led initiatives at the intersection of media and development in Canada, India, Rwanda, Mexico, Spain, Argentina and the UK. Laxmi is a contributing author of the anthology, Kamala Harris and the Rise of Indian Americans, with her chapter titled, “Millennials: Straddling Two Cultures Halfway Around the World.”

Madhuri Shekar, Playwright & Screenwriter of Evil Eye.

• An award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Madhuri’s audio play EVIL EYE debuted on the Audible best-seller list in May 2019, and won the 2020 Audie Award for Best Original Work. Her new play DHABA ON DEVON AVENUE was slated to premiere at Victory Gardens in April 2020, and is postponed till we emerge into a new post-pandemic life. Madhuri was a staff writer for the upcoming HBO show The Nevers. She wrote the feature film adaptation of Evil Eye, produced by Blumhouse, and now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Anita Wadhwani, contributing author of the anthology Untold: Defining Moments of the Uprooted.

• Anita is one of thirty authors in BrownGirl Magazine’s first-ever print anthology, “untold: defining moments of the uprooted,” a collection of real stories that explores the South Asian experience in the U.S., U.K., and Canada through the lens of identity, being, and relationships. Anita’s chapter covers the topic of caregiving, and she has also previously advocated for mental health awareness and elderly care in the South Asian American community due to her family experiences. Anita works in the policy/government field on national security issues within Washington DC. In 2018, she was named a 40 Under 40 leader within the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area.

Sejal Hathi, moderator and Chair of DiasporaNEXT

• Sejal is a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital and clinical fellow on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, who has dedicated her career to serving vulnerable communities in the United States and globally — with special attention to women and girls.

You can register for the event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkdOisrD0oHNLFHZgQkd