It is impossible to encapsulate the life and work of someone as prolific and influential as beloved Algerian novelist Assia Djebar. Her death at the age of 78 marks a symbolic lacuna in a difficult and intricate Algerian history, and of the women that have been swept up along with it - the women which Djebar made the primary subject of her life's work. 

Hassanna Aalia is young Sahrawi activist who has been living is Spain for more than three years. Born in 1988 in El Aaiún, the capital of occupied Western Sahara, Aalia has been politically active since the age of 17 and has worked to publicize Morocco's brutal repression of the Sahrawi population.

The Jaipur Literature Festival boasts the privilege of being the largest free literary festival in the world. Founded in 2006, the festival began as an initiative to preserve Indian literature and celebrate both Indian and international literary works.