What happens when poets turn to their own lives for material — or to the lives of those they carry within them?  

In this powerful event, renowned poet Lemn Sissay, and poet, writer, actor and translator Nandana Dev Sen, explore how poetry becomes a form of biography: personal, political, fragmented, and deeply felt. Through memory, myth, and metaphor, poets shape experience into language that can be both intimate and universal.  

From migration to love, loss to inheritance, we ask: how do poets tell the story of a life? And is poetry closer to truth — or to the imagination that makes truth bearable? 

Please note, this event venue and time has changed from the printed festival programme.

Join us for a special Meet the Author event with the brilliant Nandana Sen, as she brings her delightful children’s book Kangaroo Kisses to life with a captivating reading.

A celebrated writer, actress, and child rights advocate, Sen’s storytelling is full of warmth, wonder, and imagination. Perfect for young readers and their families, this interactive session promises joy, laughter, and a journey through bedtime adventures with cuddly animal friends.

Don’t miss this chance to meet Nandana Sen, hear her read aloud, and discover the magic of Kangaroo Kisses!

Suitable for ages 3+, and all lovers of stories and snuggles.

Please note, for the storytelling segment of this event children will be seated on the floor and there will be a small number of chairs available for adults. If you have any accessibility requirements please let us know when booking your tickets or by contacting boxoffice@bradfordlitfest.co.uk.

In celebration of Women's History Month, Asia Society presents an evening of poetry, memoir, dance and conversation, bringing together artistic, personal and global stories of womanhood. Join us for an intimate discussion of the mother-daughter relationship with writer, actress and child-rights advocate, Nandana Dev Sen, and author, art historian and Asia Society President Emerita, Vishakha Desai — with interpretations in movement by choreographer and dancer, Preeti Vasudevan. This unique program will weave together language and legacies, poems and performance, creating a vibrant, multi-sensory palette that presents the many shades of motherhood (and daughterhood).

Inspired by the poetry of one of Bengal’s most beloved writers, Nabaneeta Dev Sen (translated by her daughter, Nandana), this special program will feature bilingual poetry readings, original dance compositions, and a wide-ranging conversation touching on love, rebellion, marriage, motherhood, and migration. Vishakha and Nandana will explore the creative process of writing, the challenges of translation, and that sparkle we inherit from our mothers. They will be joined on stage by Preeti, who will share, through performance, her own interpretations of Nabaneeta’s extraordinary poetry.

Nandana Sen and Vishakha Desai have both published highly acclaimed books with a focus on their mothers, which will be available for purchase and personalization at the event:

Acrobat is a radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. Translated with lightness and lyricism by Dev Sen’s daughter Nandana, an award-winning poet herself, Acrobat is at once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic. In Gloria Steinem’s words, “Acrobat will rescue us, and be loved around the world.”

Vividly conjuring the complexities and exhilaration of a life rooted in multiple places, World as Family is an award-winning memoir by Vishakha Desai. Through her personal story of growing up in a Gandhian family in India and her subsequent career as a dancer, curator, teacher, and institutional leader in America, she reframes the idea of being global with multi-rooted local and national belongings.

Do come and join me at this event, where I will be in conversation with Bachi Karkaria and reading a selection of poetry of my late mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen.

Acrobat is a radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns “know that blood can be easily drawn by lips,” her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the “treachery that lingers on tongue tips.” At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat’s nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord – they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.

A writer, child-rights activist, and an award-winning actor, Nandana Dev Sen is the author of six children’s books, translated into more than 15 languages globally, and two collections of her translations of the poetry of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen. She grew up in India, England and America, and has starred in 20 feature films from four continents (and in multiple languages). Nandana’s first book Kangaroo Kisses was selected by 320 UK nurseries as a “Book of Excellence,” and her interactive workshops have been loved, in person, by more than 30,000 young people across the world.

A writer, child-rights activist, and an award-winning actor, Nandana Dev Sen is the author of six children’s books, translated into more than 15 languages globally, and Acrobat, one of two books of translations of the poetry of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, which she will be reading from at this meeting of First Tuesdays.

Nandana’s first book Kangaroo Kisses was selected by 320 UK nurseries as a “Book of Excellence,” and her interactive workshops have been loved, in person, by more than 30,000 young people across the world. Nandana grew up in India, England, and America, and has starred in 20 feature films from four continents (and in multiple languages). The winner of several Best Actress awards, the Wingword Poetry Prize, as well as the Last-Girl Champion Award for lifetime achievement in child protection, Nandana has served on numerous child-rights commissions and juries of global film festivals and international literary prizes (including the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature). As an advocate and ambassador, she has represented such prominent organizations as UNICEF, Operation Smile, RAHI, Apne Aap International, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, to fight against child abuse and to end human trafficking. Nandana is the Child Protection Ambassador for Save the Children India, a global Author Advocate for Girls' Education for Room to Read, and a Director of the Women’s Refugee Commission, New York, where she serves on the Programs and Advocacy Committee.

Nandana is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (all three at Nandana Dev Sen), as well as LinkedIn.  For updates, please swing by http://www.nandanadevsen.com

Join Nandana Dev Sen on Monday 27th March for an evening of poetry. Nandana will be reading from Acrobat, her translation of a selection of her late mother’s work.

A radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns “know that blood can be easily drawn by lips,” her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the “treachery that lingers on tongue tips.” At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat’s nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord – they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.

A writer, child-rights activist, and an award-winning actor, Nandana Dev Sen is the author of six children’s books, translated into more than 15 languages globally, and two collections of her translations of the poetry of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen. She grew up in India, England and America, and has starred in 20 feature films from four continents (and in multiple languages). Nandana’s first book Kangaroo Kisses was selected by 320 UK nurseries as a “Book of Excellence,” and her interactive workshops have been loved, in person, by more than 30,000 young people across the world.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University (where she won the Detur Book Prize, as well as the John Harvard Scholarship and Elizabeth Agassiz Award each year) and studying filmmaking at the USC School of Cinema Television, Nandana worked as a book editor, a screenwriter, a translator, an advocate for child protection, and as Princess Jasmine in Disneyland. The winner of several Best Actress awards, the Wingword Poetry Prize, as well as the Last-Girl Champion Award for lifetime achievement in child protection, Nandana has served on numerous child-rights commissions and juries of global film festivals and international literary prizes (including the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature). As an advocate and ambassador, she has represented such prominent organizations as UNICEF, Operation Smile, RAHI, Apne Aap International, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, to fight against child abuse and to end human trafficking. Nandana is the Child Protection Ambassador for Save the Children India, a global Author Advocate for Girls’ Education for Room to Read, and a Director of the Women’s Refugee Commission, New York, where she serves on the Programs and Advocacy Committee.

This is our second event with Nandana, after such a wonderful poetry reading in 2021. We hope you will join us for an intimate evening of poetry from an inspiring woman. The event is free to attend, and we’ll have Nandana’s books available to purchase and have signed at the event. We’ll also be serving prosecco too!

This event will start at 7pm. Please feel free to arrive from 6:45pm to get seated and comfortable. No need to book a ticket, just come along and enjoy yourself!

Come and meet Nandana Sen at the booth of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Nandana will at the booth from 2.30pm - do swing by and get your books signed, and a special personal reading!

The Metro NY Chapter of SCBWI will have a booth at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Saturday, October 1st   for Children’s Day at MetroTech Commons.

SCBWI will be hosting in-booth, 30-minute slots for current SCBWI members to highlight their published work. Nandana will be at the booth for a meet-n-greet, and book signing. Books will be available

Join us for an exclusive evening with some of the leading names in the South Asian literary world and women leaders who have made empowerment of girls a key priority.

Reserve your seat for a fireside chat as Seema Kumar, Founder and CEO of SEEMA, discusses the images of women in South Asian literature and media with Chitra Divakaruni, Reshma Saujani and Nandana Sen. All set in an art immersive environment over cocktails in the midst of one of the city's most stunning collections of Indian modern art. Stay tuned for more details.

Join us for a wonderful evening of poetry and conversation with Shobhaa De, author and columnist and Sampurna Chattarji, poet, novelist and translator

Acrobat is a radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen's rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns, "know that blood can be easily drawn by lips," her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the "treachery that lingers on tongue tips." At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat's nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord -- they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen (1938 – 2019) remains one of the most beloved, versatile and prolific Bengali writers of all time. She published her first book of poems at the age of 21, and grew to be immensely popular in every genre. Equally expressive in poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, she has over one hundred books to her credit, including compilations of poems, novels, plays, stories, memoirs, academic essays, children's literature, political columns, literary translations, and multiple volumes of her collected works.

A writer, child-rights activist, and an award-winning actor, Nandana Dev Sen is the author of six children’s books, translated into more than 15 languages globally. She grew up in India, England and America, and has starred in 20 feature films from four continents (and in multiple languages). Nandana’s first book Kangaroo Kisses was selected by 320 UK schools as a “Book of Excellence,” and her interactive workshops have been loved, in person, by more than 30,000 young people across the world.

In celebration of Mother's Day, the Library for the Performing Arts is delighted to present an interactive afternoon of poetry reading, dance, and conversation with writer and actor Nandana Sen, and dancer and choreographer Preeti Vasudevan.

Nandana Sen will read selections from poet Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s Acrobat, her radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Dev Sen's rhythmic lines explore the contours of first love, motherhood, loss and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. Translated by her daughter Nandana Sen, these poems are at once compassionate and unsparing, conversational, and symphonic.

Please join us with your families on what promises to be a very special Saturday afternoon.

Click here to register

Nandana Dev Sen in conversation with Sanjoy K. Roy 

Celebrated actor, screenwriter, author, and child-rights activist Nandana Dev Sen takes us through a lyrical journey of poetry, memory, and identity. Her latest poetry collection, Acrobat is a translation of her mother, Nabaneeta Sen’s work, that presents an intricate thread on womanhood, intimacy, body politics, and motherhood. In conversation with Sanjoy K. Roy, Sen discusses her inspirations and process behind this translation and her own prolific career.