SAIL Fest to Celebrate Children’s Authors for SAHM

As the South Asian diaspora celebrates South Asian Heritage Month, the British Library is launching SAIL Fest.

The South Asian landscape includes Indian, Punjabi, Bengali, and Sri Lankan communities.

A first for the UK, SAIL Fest is dedicated to celebrating, connecting, and empowering South Asian writers.

These writers encompass children’s authors, poets, and illustrators who have created books for younger readers up to the age of 17.

The inaugural festival will be held at the British Library on September 6, 2024.

It will take place from 10 am – 5 pm and will be a one-day event.

The festival will divulge the South Asian diaspora and will contain thought-provoking discussions that focus on culture, history, literature, and mythology.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books and President of the Publishers’ Association.

Delving into this, Perminder said:

“I’m honoured to be delivering the keynote speech at the inaugural SAIL festival, a groundbreaking event in the UK dedicated to celebrating and uplifting South Asian talent within children’s literature.

“The creation of a platform to harness, champion, and develop South Asian talent in UK children’s books is long overdue.

“I believe SAIL Fest will be a pivotal force in driving positive change for all readers and industry professionals.

“I am hopeful it will make a lasting impact and inspire the next generation of storytellers.”

The day will include the following sessions:

• The Art of Storytelling and How It Intersects with Your Culture – A Pinch of Culture in a Pot of Craft
• The Joy of Picture Books and Visual Storytelling
• The Craft of Imagining Fantastical and Other Worlds – Writing Sci-Fi and Fantasy
• Writing the Contemporary vs Writing Historicals – Why Do We Choose?
• Demystifying publishing of South Asian literature

Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, SAIL Fest Founder and Children’s Bookseller expressed excitement at the celebration:

“We’re so excited to be bringing together South Asian talent across the children’s literary world in the UK.”

“We’ve come a long way over recent years, so this will be a real chance both to celebrate the new books coming out whilst creating a platform for a still very underrepresented group.

“Our aim is to harness our collective power to help create real change for South Asian creatives and we hope SAIL Fest can unite the community, create more lasting opportunities, and provide a safe space to achieve this.”

The festival is pioneered by a collective group of South Asian women who work on children’s books in the UK.

These include the award-winning authors Sanchita Basu De Sarkar and Chitra Soundar, and publicity director Sinéad Gosai.

You can register for SAIL Fest here.