GALF 2026

Speakers

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 30 books and written over 50 academic papers and essays. Some of her books include: Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers Movement in Urdu (OUP, 2014); a biography of Urdu feminist writer Dr Rashid Jahan: A Rebel and her Cause (Women Unlimited, 2014); a translation of The Sea Lies Ahead, Intizar Husain's seminal novel on Karachi (Harper Collins, 2015) and Krishan Chandar's partition novel Ghaddaar (Westland, 2017)’ and recently two collections of essays entitled But You Don’t Look Like a Muslim (Harper Collins, 2019) and Love in the Time of Hate: In the Mirror of Urdu (Simon & Schuster, 2024), among others. She runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularisation of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture.

Rakhshanda Jalil

Dr Rakhshanda Jalil is a multi-award-winning translator, writer, and literary historian. She has published over 30 books and written over…

Rochelle Potkar is a prize-winning poet, author, and screenwriter based in Mumbai. Her books include Four Degrees of Separation, Paper Asylum, Bombay Hangovers, Coins in Rivers, her latest novel The D’Costa Family, and an upcoming novel The Fabric Goddesses. She is an alumna of Iowa’s International Writing Program, USA and a Charles Wallace Writer’s fellow, University of Stirling. She teaches poetry at the Himalayan Writing Retreat. Her writings have been translated into several world languages. Her short film scripts, feature-length scripts, and plays have won prizes and are in the process of being staged and filmed.

Rochelle Potkar

Rochelle Potkar is a prize-winning poet, author, and screenwriter based in Mumbai. Her books include Four Degrees of Separation, Paper…

Sandip Roy is a writer, columnist and podcaster living in Kolkata. He is the host of the Sandip Roy Show on Indian Express and his Dispatches from Kolkata which air on public radio in San Francisco have crossed 500 episodes. His columns appear in Mint Lounge and The Hindu as well as The Times of India. His work has appeared in publications like the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon.com, Conde Nast Traveler, The Economic Times and various anthologies. He is the author of the award-winning novel Don't Let Him Know. His latest book is Chapal Rani,The Last Queen of Bengal - The Life and Times of a Female Impersonator.

Sandip Roy

Sandip Roy is a writer, columnist and podcaster living in Kolkata. He is the host of the Sandip Roy Show…

Sowmiya Ashok is a journalist and writer based in Chennai. She has worked for prominent national dailies such as The Hindu and The Indian Express, and her work has appeared in leading Indian and international publications. She has reported on politics, policy, social justice, and environment and climate change. In 2019, she was the Beijing correspondent for The Indian Express and has also reported from the US, Taiwan and Sri Lanka. She holds a master’s degree in political journalism from the Columbia Journalism School. She teaches long-form journalism at the Asian College of Journalism and writes on politics, history and culture.

Sowmiya Ashok

Sowmiya Ashok is a journalist and writer based in Chennai. She has worked for prominent national dailies such as The…

'Tony Joseph is the author of 'Early Indians', a critically acclaimed, award-winning best seller on the population formation of India. It has been translated into six languages and a children's edition of the book was released recently. Tony has been a long-time editor and writer. '‘Early Indians’ draws on genetics, archaeology, and linguistics to rethink the subcontinent’s past. It challenges long-held myths and encourages readers to question assumptions, engage with evidence, and understand India’s deep, complex human story. Tony is currently working on a sequel that will focus on India's cultural formation.'

Tony Joseph

'Tony Joseph is the author of 'Early Indians', a critically acclaimed, award-winning best seller on the population formation of India.…

VIDYA PAI’s translations from Konkani have been published by Oxford UniversityPress, Harper Perennial, Aleph Book Company, Niyogi Books, Sahitya Akademi,National Book Trust, amongst others. Pundalik Naik’s Acchev (The Upheaval), Mahabaleshwar Sail’s Kali Ganga (KaliGanga), Havthan (The Kiln), Aranyakand (Forest Saga) and Yug Sanvar (Age ofFrenzy), Damodar Mauzo’s Karmelin (Karmelin), Meena Kakodkar’s Vaastu (Abodeof Joy) and Uday Bhembre’sVhodlem Ghar (Faith on Fire) feature on her list oftranslated novels. She has also translated Damodar Mauzo’s story collection Rumadful (Mirage), and Prakash Parienkar’s The Bitter-fruit Tree and other Stories (2025), as well as his children’s play Igadi Bigadi Tigadi Tha (2025).

Vidya Pai

VIDYA PAI’s translations from Konkani have been published by Oxford UniversityPress, Harper Perennial, Aleph Book Company, Niyogi Books, Sahitya Akademi,National…

G. Kanato Chophy teaches social anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, Dibrugarh University, Assam. His academic writings mostly focus on contextualising ethnography within broader historical and regional interconnectedness in South and South East Asia. He specialises in creative nonfiction, writing extensively on the anthropology of North-East India and social history of post-independence India. He has been a recipient of the coveted New India Foundation Fellowship. His recent work is Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism (Permanent Black/State University of New York Press).

G. Kanato Chophy

G. Kanato Chophy teaches social anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, Dibrugarh University, Assam. His academic writings mostly focus on…

Dr. Kaustubh Deka is an academic and author based out of Assam, where he teaches at Dibrugarh University. He has been a recipient of the Public Policy fellowship at the Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Chennai. His writings covers issues of political ecology, life at borderlands, identity and belongingness in India’s Northeast.Besides contributing to journals of academic re-putes, he has been a regular contributor to dailies such as the Hindu, the Indian Express, Hindustan Times as well as magazines like Frontline, the Outlook and so on. Dr. Deka’s monograph on youth activism has been published by the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), New Delhi.

Kaustubh Deka

Dr. Kaustubh Deka is an academic and author based out of Assam, where he teaches at Dibrugarh University. He has…

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