GALF 2025

Speakers

Ashwitha Jayakumar is a writer and researcher passionate about making history appealing to readers of all ages through nuanced storytelling. She is the author of The Book of Emperors: An Illustrated History of the Mughals (Penguin Books) and Incredible Indians: 75 People Who Shaped Modern India (HarperCollins India), as well as children's books on mythology and science. She has also delivered online talks, run workshops, and heritage walks for both children and adults, all aimed at encouraging a critical and thoughtful approach to history. Ashwitha holds an MSc in Literature and Society: 1688–1900 from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds.

Ashwitha Jayakumar

Ashwitha Jayakumar is a writer and researcher passionate about making history appealing to readers of all ages through nuanced storytelling.…

A. K. Kaiza is a Ugandan writer and former journalist. He was art and literary critic in the 1990s and early 2000s, writing for the Kenyan publication, The EastAfrican Newspaper. Starting in 2006, he has been studying Kampala the colonial and postcolonial city. He has published a number of essays on the subject. (https://debunk.media/quarterly/the-violent-birth-of-kampala/.) His non-fiction interest also covers unreconstructed, marginal lands of the pastoralist, pre-Sahelian lands of Eastern Africa. He is currently completing a book about the city. His interest in East African cities extends beyond Kampala and covers the Indian Ocean cities of Mombasa, Zanzibar, to as far south as seafaring era Sofala, in modern day Mozambique. He is a co-founder of the writers' cooperative, Shifta Press. He currently lives in Entebbe, Uganda.

A. K. Kaiza

A. K. Kaiza is a Ugandan writer and former journalist. He was art and literary critic in the 1990s and…

Reema Gehi is the editor of ART India magazine. She has previously written extensively on the cultural scene in the country for a variety of publications, including Mumbai Mirror, Hindustan Times and India Today. Her first book, The Catalyst: Rudolf von Leyden and India’s Artistic Awakening, was published last year by Speaking Tiger.

Reema Gehi

Reema Gehi is the editor of ART India magazine. She has previously written extensively on the cultural scene in the…

Smita Dalvi teaches architecture and aesthetics in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai and holds a PhD in Design from IIT-Bombay. She writes on architecture as social history, urban heritage, and film studies for architecture and culture magazines and journals. Her area of special interest is Indo-Islamic Art and Aesthetics. She has delivered several short courses and guest lectures on these subjects in India and abroad. She is the co-author of ‘Panvel: Great City, Fading Heritage’ (MES Publications, 2020), and the editor of ‘Celebrating India in 75 Buildings’ (MES Publications, 2023). This recent publication commemorates 75 years of India’s independence through a selection of 75 significant buildings from 1947-2022. The book reveals snapshots of the trajectory of seven and half decades of post-independence Indian Architecture, and is a friendly reference for students and architecture enthusiasts. Smita Dalvi is an avid traveller and photographer.

Smita Dalvi

Smita Dalvi teaches architecture and aesthetics in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai and holds a PhD in Design from IIT-Bombay. She…

Mustansir Dalvi is an architect, academic, author, poet and translator. His latest book, Citizen Charles (2024) is a biography of Charles Correa by Niyogi Books. Dalvi is the editor of 20th Century Compulsions (Marg), a collection of writings about early Indian modernist architecture. He has three books of poems — Brouhahas of Cocks (2013), Cosmopolitician (2018) and WALK (2021). He is widely anthologised, and his poems have been translated into French, Croatian, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi. Dalvi’s 2012 English translation of Muhammad Iqbal’s influential Shikwa and Jawaab-e-Shikwa from the Urdu as Taking Issue and Allah’s Answer (India Penguin Modern Classics) has been described as ‘insolent and heretical’, while making Iqbal’s verse accessible to the modern reader. Taking Issue and Allah’s Answer won the Runner Up Prize at the Muse India Translation Awards. Dalvi is the editor of Man without a Navel a collection of translations of Hemant Divate’s poems from the Marathi (2018). His recently published translation is that of Hemant Divate's award winning book of poems Paranoia, (2023). Mustansir Dalvi's translations of the poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, posted on his popular blog, are widely quoted, used in the media, and have been the subject of academic research.

Mustansir Dalvi

Mustansir Dalvi is an architect, academic, author, poet and translator. His latest book, Citizen Charles (2024) is a biography of…

Karan Madhok is an Indian writer, journalist, and editor. He is the author of Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India (2024) and the novel A Beautiful Decay (2022), both published by the Aleph Book Company. His creative work and journalism have been published in Epiphany, Sycamore Review, Gargoyle Magazine, The Literary Review, Frontline, NBA, SLAM Magazine, Fifty Two, The Plank, FirstPost, Scroll, The Caravan, FountainInk, etc. His fiction and poetry have also appeared in the anthologies A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers (Aleph Book Company 2022) and The Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 2022 (Hawakal) respectively. Karan is the editor and co-founder of the Indian Arts and Culture website The Chakkar.

Karan Madhok

Karan Madhok is an Indian writer, journalist, and editor. He is the author of Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in…

Annie Zaidi is the author of The Comeback (forthcoming), City of Incident, Prelude to a Riot, Gulab, a collection of short stories Love Stories # 1 to 14, and a collection of essays, Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales. She is also the editor of Unbound: 2000 Years of Indian Women’s Writing, and has co-authored (with Smriti Ravindra) the inter-genre collection The Good Indian Girl. She won the international Nine Dots Prize (2019) for creative thinking that tackles contemporary societal issues, which led to Bread, Cement, Cactus: A memoir of belonging and dislocation (CUP, 2020). She received the Tata Literature Live Award for fiction (2020) for Prelude to a Riot. She writes scripts for both stage and film and won the The Hindu Playwright Award (2018) for Untitled 1. Her radio script Jam was named regional (South Asia) winner for the BBC’s International Playwriting Competition (2011).

Annie Zaidi

Annie Zaidi is the author of The Comeback (forthcoming), City of Incident, Prelude to a Riot, Gulab, a collection of…

Nikhil Alva - In a professional career spanning over 30 years, Nikhil J. Alva has produced and written thousands of hours of award winning and critically acclaimed non-fiction and fiction series for the world’s leading broadcasters and platforms, like Discovery, National Geographic and the BBC, that have won over 80 national and international awards. His debut novel, ‘If I Have To Be a Soldier’, published by HarperCollins, was released at the Jaipur Literature Festival, and has won rave reviews and critical acclaim. Set against the backdrop of the 20-year long Mizo insurgency, the novel is a work of historical fiction, blending fictional characters into real historical events. Born in Bangalore, Nikhil attended St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, where he studied for a B.A.(Hons.) in Mathematics. Later he received an MBA from the London Business School.

Nikhil Alva

Nikhil Alva - In a professional career spanning over 30 years, Nikhil J. Alva has produced and written thousands of…

Anita Ratnam is a choreographer, performer, producer, speaker, mentor and Artpreneur and the pioneer of Neo Bharatam, a unique dance style that has re-assimilated the performative and somat-ic vocabularies of Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Yoga, forms that she has been formally trained in. Anita’s most notable works in her current repertoire are Naachiyaar Next (2019), A Million Sitas (2010), Ma3ka (2009), 7 Graces (2005), Faces (2007), Neelam (2006) and Andal Andal (2011). Has been recognised both nationally and internationally. In 2000, Anita launched NARTHAKI.COM, the largest online portal on Indian dance, and she continues to embrace technology and social media to reach her global audience. She is the recipient of India’s Presidential Award (2016), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for Contemporary Dance (2016), and the Vishwa Kala Ratna from Milap-Fest, UK, for pioneering arts entrepreneurship (2016).

Anita Ratnam

Anita Ratnam is a choreographer, performer, producer, speaker, mentor and Artpreneur and the pioneer of Neo Bharatam, a unique dance…

Sopan Joshi - Born in 1973 in Indore, MP. Grew up in Delhi, Chandigarh and Dehradun. Indian School Certificate in 1991. B.A. (Hons.) in English from the University of Delhi in 1994, followed by M.A. (Eng.) in 1996. Began working for English newspapers in 1996. Soon shifted to magazines. Researched, wrote and edited for a variety of publications. Became a freelancer in 2011 and started writing in Hindi, also. Has reported and spoken about farmers and agriculture, forestry and water management, indigenous peoples and societies, science and technology, the environment and ecology. Writes on adventure and travel, sports and motoring, religion and politics. Driven by the values of India's freedom movement and a desire to better understand his people, his society, his environment. Travelled across India and the world. Plans and executes workshops on journalism, communication and education. Author of six non-fiction books, with two in the pipeline: Jal Thal Mal (2016; Hindi); Ek Tha Mohan (2017; Hindi); Bapu Ki Pati (2018; Hindi); Kumar Gandharva: An Improbable Life (2023; English); Shivputra Katha: Kumar Gandharva Ki Jeevani (2023; Hindi); Mangifera indica: A biography of the mango (2024; English).

Sopan Joshi

Sopan Joshi - Born in 1973 in Indore, MP. Grew up in Delhi, Chandigarh and Dehradun. Indian School Certificate in…

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