Saturday, April 29: Sayantani Dasgupta will read from her collection of essays, Fire Girl: Essays on India, America, and the In-Between, which is a finalist for the Foreword Indies Book of the Year. She will be joined by Elizabeth Sloan, Idaho-based author of memoir When Songbirds Returned to Paris, and Denver-based author Alicia Mountain. 1pm.

"Sayantani Dasgupta brings together past and present as she considers childhood, violence, safety, family, monsters, goddesses, and the concept of home. These beautiful essays move between India and America, between selves and versions of selves, as Sayantani considers what is real and what is story or indeed, how the two are ever different." -- Bich Minh Nguyen, author of Stealing Buddha's Dinner

"With innovative narrative structure and a lively cast of characters, Elizabeth Sloan's When Songbirds Returned to Paris weaves a powerful family history set against the backdrop of world war. Sloan's impressive research reminds us that with enough digging, remarkable, true stories can rise from the dead." - Buddy Levy, author of Geronimo, Conquistador, and River of Darkness

Sayantani Dasgupta is an essayist, a short story writer, and the author of the forthcoming collection Fire Girl: Essays on India, America & the In-Between & the chapbook The House of Nails: Memories of a New Delhi Childhood.

Born in Calcutta and raised in New Delhi, Sayantani received a BA in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, an MA in Medieval History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, , New Delhi, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho. She has lived in the United States since 2006.