Inside Writing

Daphne Palasi Andreades is the author of the debut novel, BROWN GIRLS, which follows a group of young women of color who are first and second-generation immigrants, as they come-of-age in Queens, New York—the author’s hometown. BROWN GIRLS is told through a choral voice and blurs poetry and prose to explore hybrid identities and solidarity across different diasporas. Published January 2022 by Random House, BROWN GIRLS was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice, an Indies Next Pick, and featured on ‘Most Anticipated’ lists in major outlets such as The Guardian, Chicago Review of Books, Electric Lit, and more. BROWN GIRLS is now available in the UK and Commonwealth and is forthcoming in France and Germany. A graduate of CUNY and Columbia University’s MFA Fiction program, Daphne is now at work on her second novel.

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Sharan Dhaliwal founded, developed and now runs the UK’s leading South Asian magazine Burnt Roti, which is a platform for young creatives to showcase their talent, find safe spaces and destigmatize topics around mental health and sexuality, amongst others. Her bylines include i-D, HuffPost, the Guardian and was on the list of global influential women for the BBC 100 Women 2019. Her debut nonfiction, Burning My Roti, was published in February 2022. 

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Varud Gupta is the author of the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love and the nonfiction travel memoir Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods (both Penguin Random House). His food and travel articles have appeared in National Geographic and America's Test Kitchen, among others, and his short graphic fiction has appeared in Comixense and Inklab. He has worked as head of originals for the production studio Resting Kitsch Face, and taught for the Indian Institute of Art and Design. He holds a BS from New York University.

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Lindz Amer creates LGBTQ+ and intersectional social justice media for kids and families. They are the founder and CEO of Queer Kid Creative, a digital edutainment company spreading queer joy through queer-centered intersectional all-ages media. They created their beloved LGBTQ+ family webseries Queer Kid Stuff in 2015 which has blossomed into a brand new podcast called Rainbow Parenting, a live performance series, a weekly newsletter, educational resources, membership program, and more! Their queer and gender-affirming parenting book is slated for publication with Macmillan in 2023. They also write and consult for children’s television including their work on the Webby award-winning Blues Clues & You “Pride Parade” music video, The Fay and Fluffy Show an Canadian preschool show with drag queen hosts, and more! You can watch their TED Talk on why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality now with more than 2.5 million views! When Lindz isn’t trying to build a queer kid media empire, you can probably find them cooking, fiddling with their ukulele collection, working on a puzzle, painting, or snuggling with their pouch and wife on a New England beach.

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Audrey Mardavich serves as Senior Director of Content for the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX, overseeing the strategic planning, operations, and management of the network, including new launches and ongoing series. Additionally, Mardavich is an executive producer of "Radiotopia Presents," a Peabody Award-nominated podcast feed and home to limited series from independent audio creators, in which creators retain 100% ownership and creative control of their work. Prior to Radiotopia and PRX, Mardavich served as a Boston storySLAM producer for “The Moth” and at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. She is also a poet.

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