A Conversation with Parul Kapur and Guest Host Doug Stanton
A Partnership with Interlochen and National Writers Series
You are warmly invited to a special conversation with acclaimed novelist Parul Kapur and guest host Doug Stanton. The event is a unique partnership with NWS and Interlochen, presenter of the Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award, a $25,000 prize honoring the best literature in the creative arts field.
This is a free event, but we ask you to RSVP so we can plan for refreshments and appetizers. Be sure to read our parking advice when you register.
Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is a riveting exploration of the shame and shunning faced by women artists in 1950’s India. Set in the aftermath of colonialism, it tells the story of twin sisters who are drawn to the arts. Jaya is a talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern art movement by her desire to express the pain and extraordinary force of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, is a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance. She ultimately complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher but secretly pursues her forbidden dreams of dancing onstage and in the movies.
When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation, Jaya loses a vital connection to Kamlesh.
AWARDS
Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel
Winner of the Pattis Family Foundation Creative Arts Book Award
Winner of the 2025 Georgia Author of the Year Award
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s 2024 First Novel Prize
Longlisted for the 2024 New American Voices Award
Honorable Mention for the 2024 Foreword INDIES Book Award in Literary Fiction
Finalist for the 2024 Foreword INDIES Book Award in Multicultural Fiction
Winner of the 2024 American Fiction Award in Literary Fiction
Finalist for the 2024 American Fiction Award in Multicultural Fiction
Named a Ms. Magazine’s Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024
ABOUT THE PATTIS FAMILY FOUNDATION
With a history originating from book and magazine publishing, The Pattis Family Foundation of Highland Park, Illinois, actively supports various health, educational, and cultural initiatives, including generous book awards and programs that help bridge the opportunity gap for talented students with limited financial resources.
The Alluvion
414 E. Eighth St., Traverse City, MI
Doors open at 6 p.m.
Remarks by Doug Stanton at 6:15 p.m.
Introduction and conversation starts at 7 p.m. followed by a book signing
Appetizers and refreshments will be served
