Authors on this panel will discuss their muse- strong women characters in their writing and books. 

Shikha Malaviya 

Shikha Malaviya (www.shikhamalaviya.com) is an Indian American poet, writer, and publisher. She is co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a mentorship model press publishing powerful voices from India & the Indian diaspora. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and featured in Catamaran, PLUME, Prairie Schooner & other fine publications. Shikha has been a featured TEDx speaker and was selected as Poet Laureate of San Ramon, California, 2016. She has been an AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Professionals) poetry mentor in their Writer-to-Writer program for seven seasons and is currently a Mosaic America Fellow, committed to cultural collaboration in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond. Her book of historical persona poetry, In Her Own Voice: Poems of Anandibai Joshee, is forthcoming in 2023 from HarperCollins, India. Her previous book of poems is Geography of Tongues.

Ava Homa

Ava Homa is an award-winning author and activist. Her novel Daughters of Smoke and Fire was a Roxane Gay book club selection, won the 2020 Silver Nautilus Award, and was a finalist for the 2022 William Saroyan Prize. Her book of short stories, Echoes from the Other Land, was nominated for the 2011 Frank O'Connor Short Story Prize. Holding a master’s degree in Creative Writing, her work has been featured in publications including the Globe and Mail, BBC, Toronto Star, and Literary Hub. She's also a 2023 recipient of the California Arts Council Fellowship. You can contact her through www.AvaHoma.com