Arshia Sattar works with the epics and storytelling traditions of the Indian sub-continent. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has translated the Valmiki Ramayana from Sanskrit into English. She has written several books of commentary and interpretation on this ancient text. More recently, she has retold myths and classical stories for younger readers. Her book, "The Mahabharata for Children" won the Children's Literature Award from the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters.) Arshia writes, speaks and teaches about classical Indian literatures at home and abroad. Along with DW Gibson, she founded and runs the Sangam House International Writers' Residency Program in Bangalore, India. She also runs the Yali Project at Sangam House which nurtures and mentors translators working with Indian languages. Yali commissions newer translators to work with experienced translation mentors and brings them together for an intensive residential workshop to create a final draft of the work. 

In 2023, the Government of France honoured Arshia with the rank of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions to Indian Literature.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is an award-winning Indian filmmaker, writer, and artistic producer celebrated for her emotionally resonant storytelling and nuanced exploration of the human experience. A former advertising creative and gold medallist in Applied Arts, she has built a distinctive body of work that includes Nil Battey Sannata, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Panga, Ghar Ki Murgi, Faadu, and most recent System. Her films have received widespread critical acclaim and numerous national and international honours for their authenticity, layered narratives, and compassionate lens. She is the co-founder of Earthsky Pictures, where she develops original stories while mentoring emerging storytellers. Beyond filmmaking, Ashwiny is the author of the novel Mapping Love and the founder of Roots, an initiative documenting India's rich artistic and design heritage. Through her films and creative initiatives, Ashwiny continues to champion stories rooted in empathy, culture, and the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Divya Dugar is a journalist and storyteller with over 15 years of experience covering news and producing long-form documentaries. Born in Calcutta, she studied at the Asian College of Journalism before producing over 60 reports and documentaries for European broadcasters, primarily ARTE. She also worked as a journalist for four years with France 2, covering news across India, with a focus on stories at the intersection of culture, society, and human experience.

Her writing—spanning features and personal reflections—has appeared in numerous publications and often draws from her love for animals, heritage architecture, train travel, and places just off the beaten path. Now based in Southeast Asia, Divya lives with her two young children, Marius and Elora, and their two dogs—Marcopolo and Pari—who are equal parts companions and chaos agents. She is also actively (and endlessly) convincing her partner to rescue just one more.

She is currently working on a project that brings her children into the wild—to experience wildlife in its natural habitat, slowly and mindfully. Along the way, she is mapping train routes no one asks about and quietly nurturing a not-so-secret ambition to witness every great animal migration on Earth.

An independent journalist based in New Delhi, Neha Dixit has spent over 18 years reporting on the intersections of gender, politics, and social justice across South Asia. Working across print, digital, and television, their long-form and investigative journalism has appeared in leading international publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Smithsonian, Foreign Policy, Caravan, The National, and The Wire.

They are the author of The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian, an acclaimed work of narrative non-fiction that brings to life the remarkable story of an ordinary woman who witnessed extraordinary moments in India's history.

Rheea Mukherjee is a writer whose work has appeared in publications including Scroll.in, Southern Humanities Review, Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Out of Print, LIT Magazine, and Bengal Lights. Her fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and was a semi-finalist for the Black Lawrence Press Award.

Rheea holds an MFA in Writing from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. She co-founded the Bangalore Writers Workshop in 2012 and now co-runs Write Leela Write, a design and content laboratory based in Bengaluru.

She is the author of Liar, Liar: The True Story of the Scammer Who Faked Cancer and Death, a gripping work of narrative non-fiction that unravels one of India's most extraordinary online deception cases.

Shivya Nath is an award-winning travel writer and bestselling author. She spent nearly seven years living out of two bags, spending time with local communities from Iran to Patagonia. Her words have appeared in BBC Travel, National Geographic Traveller and Lonely Planet, among other publications. She is a recipient of the prestigious NATJA and Lowell Thomas travel journalism awards. Her latest book, Rootless and Restless, is based on 9 life-changing adventures in some of the world’s remotest places, reminding us of our shared humanity in an increasingly divided world.