Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
A conversation between Livia Manera Sambuy and Tash Aw at the American Library in Paris. Filmed on 10/05/2023 with a live audience both in person and on Zoom.
A mysterious portrait in a Mumbai museum led journalist Livia Manera Sambuy on a search across the globe for information about a princess lost to history. Discover the remarkable life of Amrit Kaur.
When journalist Livia Manera Sambuy discovered a striking portrait of princess Amrit Kaur in a Mumbai museum, she had no idea who the luminous figure was, much less the journey that lay ahead of her in excavating Kaur’s history. Fascination with Kaur led to a search across the globe for information on her past, which in turn uncovered Kaur’s participation in the resistance effort against the Nazis, her commitment to the fight for women’s rights, a complicated family life, and a tragic death following imprisonment in a concentration camp. Equal parts moving and riveting, Sambuy’s tale of Kaur’s inspiring life and living legacy is infused with remarkable, improbable stories of figures across history and the reminder that every individual is part of a cause bigger than themselves. Sambuy appeared in conversation with author Tash Aw.
About the speaker:
Livia Manera Sambuy is an Italian writer whose book of profiles of American writers, Don’t Write About Me, was published in 2015. She has been a staff writer at the literary pages of the Italian national daily Corriere della Sera for more than twenty years and is the author and co-director of two documentary films on Philip Roth. She divides her time between Paris and Tuscany.
Tash Aw is an award-winning author. His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and won the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards First Novel Award. His 2013 novel Five Star Billionaire was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. In 2016, he published The Face: Strangers on a Pier, , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His 2019 novel, We, The Survivors, was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His novels have been translated into 23 languages.
A conversation between Livia Manera Sambuy and Tash Aw at the American Library in Paris. Filmed on 10/05/2023 with a live audience both in person and on Zoom.
A mysterious portrait in a Mumbai museum led journalist Livia Manera Sambuy on a search across the globe for information about a princess lost to history. Discover the remarkable life of Amrit Kaur.
When journalist Livia Manera Sambuy discovered a striking portrait of princess Amrit Kaur in a Mumbai museum, she had no idea who the luminous figure was, much less the journey that lay ahead of her in excavating Kaur’s history. Fascination with Kaur led to a search across the globe for information on her past, which in turn uncovered Kaur’s participation in the resistance effort against the Nazis, her commitment to the fight for women’s rights, a complicated family life, and a tragic death following imprisonment in a concentration camp. Equal parts moving and riveting, Sambuy’s tale of Kaur’s inspiring life and living legacy is infused with remarkable, improbable stories of figures across history and the reminder that every individual is part of a cause bigger than themselves. Sambuy appeared in conversation with author Tash Aw.
About the speaker:
Livia Manera Sambuy is an Italian writer whose book of profiles of American writers, Don’t Write About Me, was published in 2015. She has been a staff writer at the literary pages of the Italian national daily Corriere della Sera for more than twenty years and is the author and co-director of two documentary films on Philip Roth. She divides her time between Paris and Tuscany.
Tash Aw is an award-winning author. His first novel, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) was longlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize and won the 2005 Whitbread Book Awards First Novel Award. His 2013 novel Five Star Billionaire was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. In 2016, he published The Face: Strangers on a Pier, , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His 2019 novel, We, The Survivors, was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His novels have been translated into 23 languages.
