It’s the 25th Anniversary of Authors on the Move and we are celebrating! We are bringing three powerful female keynote writers for a night of literary adventure and delight. These three award winning authors, Myriam Gurba, Alka Joshi, and Wayétu Moore come from three countries, write in three different genres, and have 3 generational perspectives.
After 30 years in advertising and marketing, Alka Joshi turned to full-time writing with her New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Pick, The Henna Artist. The novel was Longlisted for the “Center for Fiction First Novel Prize,” translated into 30 languages, and is now in development as a feature film. She followed with 2 sequels, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris before releasing Six Days in Bombay. Her 5th novel, Daughters of the Pink City, will appear on shelves March 2, 2027. Forbes selected Alka for their 50 Over 50 List in 2023. Born in India, Alka came to the U.S. at nine and earned a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of the Arts.
Alka Joshi, Daughters of the Pink City
Wayétu Moore is the author of the novel She Would Be King, and the memoir, The Dragons, The Giant, The Women. She is the recipient of the 2019 Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction and the 2022 William Saroyan Prize for Nonfiction. Her novel, She Would Be King, was named a best book of 2018 by Publishers Weekly, a Sarah Jessica Parker ALA Book Club selection, a #1 Indie Next Pick, and a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award. Her memoir, The Dragons, The Giant, The Women, was a 2020 New York Times Notable Book, Time Magazine 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2020, Publishers Weekly Top 5 Nonfiction Books of 2020, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Moore is a graduate of Howard University, University of Southern California and Columbia University.
Wayétu Moore, Habila
Myriam Gurba is a writer and activist. Her first book, the short story collection Dahlia Season, won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. O, the Oprah Magazine ranked her true-crime memoir Mean as one of the “Best LGBTQ Books of All Time.” Her recent essay collection Creep: Accusations and Confessions was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle award for Criticism and won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction. She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vox, and Paris Review. Her next book, Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings, will be published by Timber Press in October 2025.
Myriam Gurba, Poppy State