Author Talks with Sunjeev Sahota - Saturday 7 February 2026

Sunjeev Sahota is a British novelist whose first novel, Ours are the Streets, was published in January 2011 and whose second novel, The Year of the Runaways, was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and was awarded a European Union Prize for Literature in 2017.

Our first Author Talks of 2026 was a special one - in front of another packed-out audience. From the buzz of the room, to the insightful discussion with Sunjeev and the brilliant food by Dipna Anand. A fantastic evening of networking, filled with knowledge and inspiration.

Author Talks with Dipna Anand - Wednesday 2 July 2025

Dipna Anand is a British-Indian celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and TV personality known as the "Curry Queen". She comes from a three-generation family culinary legacy tied to the historic The Brilliant Restaurant in Southall, and has expanded her brand into cookery schools, cookbooks, and regional dining. 

From tasting Dipna’s delicious bites to hearing her heartwarming stories including the Brilliant’s very first customer, and the exciting vision for her new gastro pub -  the night was truly unforgettable.

We even had some surprise guests: the legendary Juggy D and Dipna’s father, the iconic restaurateur himself. Truly the best father-daughter duo we know!

Author Talks with Daljit Nagra - Monday 31st March 2025

The Sher Jung Foundation's fifth event in our AuthorTalks series, we spoke with the acclaimed Author, writer and poet, Daljit Nagra!

Daljit is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University and past Chair of the Royal Society of Literature (2021–2025). He has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber, won the Forward Poetry Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the TS Eliot Prize. His poem “Singh Song” is even studied at GCSE level! In 2023, his spoken word piece was performed by James Nesbitt at the Coronation Concert, and in 2022, he was appointed MBE for services to literature.

Author Talks with Jassa Ahluwalia - Wednesday 17th July 2024

Jassa joined the SJF for Author Talks Series 4. He is an Actor, Writer, Presenter and Filmmaker who has featured in several shows, including as ‘Rocky’ in the BBC series ‘Some Girls’ and as Presenter of the Disney Junior show ‘Art Attack’. He has also acted alongside Martin Sheen in BBC One film ‘The Whale’ . In 2013, Jassa produced ‘Modern Man’ with Director, Sebastian Solbery, a short film telling the story of an accidental time-travelling cave-woman.

Jassa’s writer-director debut short film ‘Heart’s Ease’ won two Best Film awards during its festival run, and was an official selection at San Diego International Film Festival and the BAFTA-qualifying London Short Film Festival.

Jassa has also been outspoken about his mixed heritage identity as both Punjabi and English, and in 2019 he went viral for creating the hashtag #BothNotHalf online. He was later invited to share his thoughts in India at a TEDxChandigarh Talk in 2020. In May 2024, ‘Both Not Half’ was developed into a book that explores themes of identity and unearths the historical roots of modern mixed identity.

Author Talks with Gita Ralleigh - Saturday 22nd June 2024

Next in our series was the wonderful Gita Ralleigh, poet and author of ‘The Destiny of Minou Moonshine’.

Gita started her career as an NHS doctor born to Indian immigrant parents in London before becoming a writer. She has been published by Wasafiri, Bellevue Literary Review, Magma Poetry, and The Rialto, among others. She teaches creative writing to science undergraduates, having an MA in Creative Writing and an MSc in Medical Humanities.

Gita’s poetry book ‘A Terrible Thing’ was published in 2020 with Bad Betty Press. In 2022, her second poetry book ‘Siren’ was published by Broken Sleep Books.

Author Talks with Kavita Puri - Friday 17th May 2024

Series 2 of the SJF Author Talks welcomed the wonderful Kavita Puri. Kavita has worked as a Producer and Editor for the BBC, being involved in BBC Newsnight and Burning Sun - the latter as a co-creator. Kavita presents programmes on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, including the weekly current affairs programme 'The Inquiry'. She is the Creator, Writer, and Presenter of 'Three Million' on BBC Sounds.

In 2017, Kavita wrote and presented the landmark three-part series, 'Partition Voices', on Radio 4, marking the 70th anniversary of the partition of India. It was awarded The Royal Historical Society’s Best Radio and Podcast prize and its overall Public History Prize. In 2019, she published the book “Partition Voices: Untold British Stories” based on the documentary series.

Author Talks with Mona Arshi - Monday 25th March 2024

The first ever SJF Author Talks took place at Parkside Yards in Southall, and was kicked off by The Sher Jung Foundation’s own Mona Arshi, an acclaimed human rights lawyer-turned-poet who’s authored two poetry collections, ‘Small Hands’ and ‘Dear Big Gods’. In 2021, Mona published her debut novel ‘Somebody Loves You’, which was shortlisted for a number of awards. Mona’s poems and interviews have been published in The Times, The Guardian, Granta and The Times of India, as well as displayed on the London Underground. In 2020, she was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Liverpool and is currently a fellow in creative writing at Trinity College, Cambridge.