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SALTAF seeks to celebrate the diversity of South Asian-themed literary and theater arts; increase awareness of South Asian arts in the D.C. area; offer both established and up-and-coming artists the opportunity to reach a wider audience; and provide a forum for artists to discuss their works with each other and with their audience. The festival was started by members of the NetSAP-DC book club to meet the authors of the books they were reading. A theater arts component was added in 2003 to broaden the event's scope to include playwrights, screenwriters, directors, and actors. SALTAF 2008 marks the fifth year NetSAP-DC is partnering with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. This relationship has established SALTAF as a premier showcase for South Asian-themed literary and theater arts in North America.
Last year's participants included Madhur Jaffrey, Amitava Kumar, Rishi Reddi, Vic Sarin, and Thrity Umrigar. The event screened the films Loins of Punjab Presents and Partition. Past participants include Meena Alexander, Samina Ali, Thalassa Ali, Nadeem Aslam, Anita Rau Badami, Anjali Banerjee, Raj Basu, Jonah Blank, Tanuj Chopra, Geeta Citygirl, William Dalrymple, David Davidar, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Sabrina Dhavan, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Nisha Ganatra, Amitav Ghosh, Anna Ghosh, Mohsin Hamid, Nagesh Kukunoor, Vishnu Mathur, Deepa Mehta, Ved Mehta, Satish Menon, Bharati Mukherjee, Madhusree Mukherjee, Mira Nair, Michael Olmert, Vijay Prashad, Rohit Colin Rao, Devyani Saltzman, Shyam Selvadurai, Mitra Sen, Kamila Shamsie, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, Bapsi Sidwa, Indu Sundaresan, Sara Suleri, Tarun Tejpal, Shashi Tharoor, Samrat Upadhyay, and M.G. Vassanji.
NetSAP-DC is a non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer-based 501(c)(3) organization committed to identifying and celebrating the diversity of South Asians in America by promoting professional development; encouraging community service activities; raising awareness of the South Asian culture; and providing forums for the discussion of important societal issues. Our community includes over 400 paid members throughout the D.C., Virginia, and Maryland area, and our weekly e-mail newsletter reaches over 5,000 people. SALTAF is one of the flagship events organized each year. More information about NetSAP-DC can be found at http://netsap.org.
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program provides vision, leadership, and support for all Asian Pacific American activities at the Smithsonian, while serving as liaison to APA communities. The Program works to better reflect the APA experience in Smithsonian exhibitions, programs, and research. It therefore improves the public's appreciation of the crucial role that Asian Pacific Americans have played in American history and, simultaneously, empowers APA communities in their sense of inclusion with our national culture. More information on the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program can be found at http://www.apa.si.edu
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