Schedule

Thursday, May 15, 2025
7 p.m. Book Talk
8 p.m. Book Signing

New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi joins Asia Society Texas for a presentation of her latest novel, Six Days in Bombay. She will also share insights on the creative writing process and how her background and life continue to serve as inspiration for her novels

Six Days in Bombay is Joshi’s first standalone novel since her breakout New York Times bestseller The Henna Artist and her Jaipur Trilogy. Inspired by the 1930s salacious Hungarian-Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil, known as “India’s Frida Kahlo,” Joshi wrote Six Days as a tribute to the many extraordinary, free-spirited, talented women overlooked by history. Set in 1937, the novel follows Sona, a young Anglo-Indian nurse as she travels from Bombay to Istanbul, Prague, Florence, Paris, and London to uncover the mystery behind a famous painter’s death.

Joshi will be joined in conversation by award-winning author and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and will sign books after the program.

About the Author

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Six Days in Bombay is her fourth novel. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, an LA Times Bestseller, a Toronto Star and Globe & Mail Bestseller, an Indie Bookstores Bestseller, a Cosmopolitan Best Audiobook, and an Amazon and Goodreads favorite. It was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, has been translated into 29 languages and optioned as an episodic series.

 Since its release during the pandemic of 2020, Alka has spoken to over 1,000 libraries, book clubs, bookstores, literary festivals, podcasters, universities and colleges and corporations about persistence, patience and passion and her ten-your journey to overnight success. Because she started her writing career at the age of 62, Forbes selected Alka as one of 50 Women Over 50 who are shattering age and gender norms. 

Alka was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts.

Chitra Divakaruni is a teacher and award-winning author of 23 books such as Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Palace of Illusions, The Forest of Enchantments, The Last Queen, and Independence, which won an American Book Award in 2024. Her newest book is a biography, An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayan Murthy.

Her work has been translated into 30 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Bengali, Hungarian, Turkish, Hindi and Japanese. They have been made into films, plays and dance dramas, and performed as operas.

Her awards include two American Book Awards, a PEN Josephine Miles award, a Premio Scanno award from Italy, a Light of India award, and a Times of India Best Author award. The Economic Times has included her in their list of 20 Most Influential Global Indian Women. She has been an activist in the fields of education and domestic violence for many years. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Daya (Houston) and Maitri (San Francisco Area), both organizations that help survivors of domestic violence. She is the McDavid professor of Creative Writing in the internationally acclaimed Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.

Asia Society hosts today's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect Asia Society views.

Asia Society Texas Business & Policy Programs are endowed by the Huffington Foundation.

Business and Policy programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Bank of America, Muffet Blake, and ExxonMobil. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, The Brown Foundation, Inc., and Houston Endowment Inc. Generous funding provided by bp America, Inc, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Regions Bank, and Stephanie and Frank Tsuru. Additional support is provided by the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing the best in public programming.

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About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.

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