When journalist Livia Manera Sambuy discovered a striking portrait of princess Amrit Kaur in a Mumbai museum, she had no idea who the luminous figure was, much less the journey that lay ahead of her in excavating Kaur’s history. Fascination with Kaur led to a search across the globe for information on her past, which in turn uncovered Kaur’s participation in the resistance effort against the Nazis, her commitment to the fight for women’s rights, a complicated family life, and a tragic death following imprisonment in a concentration camp. Equal parts moving and riveting, Sambuy’s tale of Kaur’s inspiring life and living legacy is infused with remarkable, improbable stories of figures across history and the reminder that every individual is part of a cause bigger than themselves. Sambuy will appear in conversation with author Tash Aw.
About the speaker:
Livia Manera Sambuy is an Italian writer whose book of profiles of American writers, Don’t Write About Me, was published in 2015. She has been a staff writer at the literary pages of the Italian national daily Corriere della Sera for more than twenty years and is the author and co-director of two documentary films on Philip Roth. She divides her time between Paris and Tuscany.
Tash Aw is an award-winning author. His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and won the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards First Novel Award. His 2013 novel Five Star Billionaire was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. In 2016, he published The Face: Strangers on a Pier, , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His 2019 novel, We, The Survivors, was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His novels have been translated into 23 languages.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Sambuy and Aw will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
