SAMA

A special event for reading groups and for any readers who love to be immersed in compelling stories. In Nikita Lalwani's award-winning debut novel Gifted, we follow the turbulent and entertaining teenage years of Rumi, a math's genius from an unashamedly aspirational Indian family. Nikita Lalwani takes a new look at the traditional coming of age story by telling it from the perspective of a second-generation immigrant family. Nikita Lalwani was born in Rajasthan and raised in Cardiff. Gifted is her first novel and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Desmond Elliott Prize. She lives in London.

In his acclaimed memoir, If You Don't Know Me by Now, Sathnam Sanghera, who hails from a Punjabi Sikh family, undertakes a voyage of self-discovery to reconcile the clash of cultures of his adult life with his family background and history. The book explores the difficulties of coming of age in a way that takes you away from your family background and looks at what it takes to go back. Sathnam Sanghera was born to Punjabi parents in the West Midlands in and graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge. He is an award-winning journalist who regularly writes for The Times.

For more information, see www.northernwriterscentre.com