On October 20, 2020, the Tasveer South Asian Litfest (TSAL) kicked off with a virtual keynote discussion between Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, an award-winning Indian American author, and Prof. Sunila Kale, Director of the UW South Asia Center. Their conversation explored gender, power, and meaning in Indian epics, which Divakaruni’s works re-think from the perspectives of women characters. Divakaruni shared passages from her latest novel, The Forest of Enchantment, which adopts the perspective of Sita, a leading female character of the Ramayana. Scores of readers chimed in with their questions for Divakaruni, who touched on her writing process, literary inspirations, and upcoming projects.
Check out the full conversation on YouTube: