Keynote Speakers

Originally from Jalandhar in Punjab, India, Navjot Dhillon is an award-winning Indo-Canadian journalist, having begun her career in 1995.

Her awards have included the 2023 Jagjit Singh Anand Memorial Award for Best Journalism and the Tara Singh Hayer Award in Journalism, awarded by the Chetna Association of Canada in 2019.

Her media journey began after completing a Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication (MJMC) at Guru Nanak Dev University, as well as a Master of Arts (MA) in Political Science at DAV College, both in Jalandhar. She was trained at The Indian Express and, while living in Jalandhar, worked for All India Radio, Hindustan Times, Doordarshan TV as well as being a remote presenter for Montreal’s Radio Humsafar.

Between 1998 – 2004, she served as the Head of the Department of Mass Communication and Video Production at Banarsi Dass Arya College in Jalandhar Cantonment (Cantt.).

Upon arriving in Canada, she became a talk show host and news reader at Red FM in Vancouver between 2005 to 2019. She took on the role of National News Director during her last year at the station. She then launched, and continues to host, the Navjot Dhillon Wall, a podcast on YouTube highlighting Punjabi literature, theatre and art, as well as other contemporary issues.

While also working at Sher-E-Punjab AM 600 between 2020 to 2023, Navjot Dhillon regularly covered Punjabi art and culture. Her show featured writers, theatre actors, playwrights, directors, painters, singers and music directors – including many Dhahan Prize finalists and winners.

She also headlined subjects on climate change, gender-based violence, gender equality, drugs, the exploitation of international students, mental health, LGBTQ+ people and caste discrimination.

“Punjabi literature has kept me connected to my roots.…To truly comprehend the roots of Punjabi culture and people, reading Punjabi literature is essential.”

-Navjot Dhillon

Canadian-born Keerat Kaur is a Sikh-Punjabi artist of multiple mediums. She creates paintings, digital illustrations, sculptures, embroidery, photography composites, calligraphy, music and the written word. She is also a licensed, part-time architect. She is fluent in Punjabi, Hindi, English and French.

As an author, she self-published the book, ‘Panjabi Garden: Nature’s Wonders, through the Gurmukhi Script’ in 2022. Filled with her metaphorical illustrations, transliterations and nature-based stories, the book introduces Punjabi to language-lovers of all ages. It serves as an ode to her passion for language preservation.

In addition to private and public art commissions, Keerat Kaur’s whimsical designs have been exhibited at the Surrey Art Gallery in B.C. and the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives in Brampton O.N. She has performed musically on stages across Canada, having been trained in Gurbani Keertan and Indian Classical Music genres (specifically Dhrupad and Khayaal).

Keerat Kaur has been featured in media, including the CBC Vancouver, Vogue, Elle India (on Instagram) and more. On Instagram, she boasts 28.5K followers, making her a Punjabi influencer for today’s generation.

“This connection to the world of language, nurtured from a tender age, germinates and flourishes alongside us, becoming an integral part of our essence, never to be severed from our journey of growth and learning.”

-Keerat Kaur

Photo: London ON – Clara Hill (Woodgate Photography)

Vancouver-based Lynda Gray of the Ts’msyen Nation is the author of First Nations 101, now in its second edition (2022). Her book is used in classrooms, organizations and among individuals seeking an overview of Indigenous historic and current life.

Gray served as the Executive Director of the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) for 8 years, and currently serves on the National Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) Advisory Circle. She also gives presentations about anti-racism, education, how to become a great ally, and social issues to an array of audiences.

First Nations 101 details colonial interventions which were used in an attempt to assimilate Indigenous people into mainstream Canadian society, and to erase their languages, cultures, traditional knowledge, and existence. As a result, long-term challenges and unresolved traumas have ensued. Gray offers hope for the future by pointing out ways in which societies, as a whole, can work towards healing for Indigenous people and true reconciliation.

Having been warmly invited to be a keynote speaker for the 2022 Dhahan Prize ceremonies, Gray notes similarities in the experiences of immigrant communities, some of which also experienced the lasting effects of colonization and discrimination. She observes that, while colonization has affected many, many have also shown resilience by looking to their cultures and traditions to help (re)build healthy families and communities. And, while we may have unique cultures, art and literature help celebrate our commonalities and build community.

“Publishing opens avenues to provide missing information on history, how history affects us today, and ensures diverse views, knowledge, and experiences are known and shared.”

-Lynda Gray

New York based Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is an award-winning educator, activist, and scholar. He speaks on language, culture and representation. He facilitates workshops on diversity, equity and inclusion for a variety of audiences, from preschools to university campuses, and from local community centers to corporate boardrooms.

Simran is also the host of the new show, ‘Becoming Less Racist: Lighting a Path to Anti-Racism’, as well as the podcast ‘Spirited’, which explores how leaders from marginalized groups think about and navigate justice work. While he is an accomplished professor with graduate degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities, Simran uses personal stories, dad-jokes, and a love for pop culture to connect with people where they are. That’s because he understands that marginalized groups will not lecture their way into dignity and that empathy is really built when we connect with one another as human beings.

Simran is the author of ‘Fauja Singh Keeps Going’, a new picture book biography about the oldest person to ever run a marathon. Simran is also writing an adult non-fiction book for Penguin Random House on cultivating empathy and connection in our tumultuous world.

I began to feel a real urgency to begin writing stories featuring minority communities who are not historically or even presently represented in kids’ books.

Balli was born in Singapore with family having roots in Punjab. She grew up living in countries such as Japan, Russia, the Philippines, Australia and the United States of America. She is a global citizen with rich perspectives on language, arts and culture.

Balli is an award-winning author of four novels, including Singapore Literature Prize finalist Sugarbread, and the bestselling Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, which was a selection of Reese Witherspoon’s book club. Her debut novel Inheritance won the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelist award. A former writing fellow at the University of East Anglia, she teaches creative writing at Yale NUS College. Her non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan.com, Harper’s Bazaar India and Salon.com, among other publications. Her latest novel The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters was released internationally earlier this year.

It is in your blood — the language, the food, the way things are, these things are not erased just because you grew up elsewhere.

Parveen Malik is a highly respected writer of Punjabi fiction and a distinguished broadcaster. Malik’s published short fiction includes ‘KeJanaN MaiN Kaun’, ‘Nikkay Nikkay Dukhh’, and an Urdu novel ‘Aadhi Aurat’. Her autobiography ‘Kasiyan da Pani’ was published in 2016. She has written numerous screenplays for Pakistan Television and anchored a literary program called ‘Likhari’ for Lahore Television. Her popular program ‘Punjab Rut’ aired on Lahore Radio from 1988 to 1998.

Malik is a recipient of several prestigious literary awards and distinctions including Waris Shah and Baba Fareed Awards and Sitara Imtiaz by Government of Pakistan in 2016. She has served as Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan. She is currently serving as Secretary of Punjabi Adabi Board, Lahore, which is a leading organization promoting Punjabi language and culture in Pakistan. 

Mothers for centuries have taught their daughters to be silent…‘even if you have a good reason to speak remain silent’…. As a woman Punjabi writer, I want more women to come forward, write and tell their stories.

Khelsilem is an inspirational young educator and community organizer. He is both Squamish and Kwakwaka’wakw and lives in Vancouver. Khelsilem is passionate about creating opportunities for growth, renewal, and exploration for Indigenous peoples. He is the founder of a ground breaking Squamish language immersion program at Simon Fraser University and the Kwi Awt Stelmexw Cultural Society that is a platform for arts and education. He is an authoritative writer and public speaker on issues of Indigenous languages, cultural identity, and governance. Currently a lecturer at Simon Fraser University, he has worked with Indigenous communities in Canada to address the decline of their languages, including the Squamish Language and Halkomelem language.

So much of what we are today and what we are taught to be in our community, is to think of our ancestors, and what they did for us.

M. G. Vassanji was born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He received a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, before going to live in Canada. He is a member of the Order of Canada and has been awarded several honorary doctorates. He currently lives in Toronto.

He is the author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, a travel memoir about India, a memoir of East Africa, and a biography of Mordecai Richler. He is twice winner of the Giller Prize (1994, 2003) for best work of fiction in Canada; the Governor General’s Prize (2009) for best work of nonfiction; the Harbourfront Festival Prize; the Commonwealth First Book Prize (Africa, 1990); and the Bressani Prize. The Assassin’s Song was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Prize, the Writers Trust Award, and India’s Crossword Prize. His work has been translated into many languages, including Hindi. Vassanji has given lectures worldwide and written many essays, including introductions to the works of Robertson Davies, Anita Desai, Mordecai Richler, and the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. In June 2015, M. G. Vassanji was awarded the Canada Council Molson Prize for the Arts.

This is a truly wonderful initiative to promote literature, more so because it comes from a private initiative. By telling our stories we share our lives; this fiction prize will bring Punjab to us and through that the world. I wish it every success.

Born in Montreal, Shauna Singh Baldwin grew up in India. Her first book A Foreign Visitor’s Survival Guide to America sold out but went unnoticed.

In 1996, Shauna won the Friends of American Writers Prize for her collection English Lessons and Other Stories, and the 1997 CBC Literary Award for her story Satya. Her first novel, What the Body Remembers won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (Canada-Caribbean). A 20th Anniversary edition will be published in 2020.

Shauna’s novel The Tiger Claw was a finalist for the 2004 Giller Prize. Cross-cultural stories from her collection We Are Not in Pakistan were anthologized internationally. Her third novel The Selector of Souls won the Anne Powers Fiction Prize. Her play We Are So Different Now was staged in Toronto by the Sawitri Theatre Group. Reluctant Rebellions: New and Selected Non-fiction was published in 2016. The South Asian Literary Association presented Shauna their 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award.

Shauna’s work has been translated into 14 languages and published in magazines, anthologies, and newspapers. Her B.Comm. (Hons) degree is from Delhi University. She holds an MBA from Marquette University and an MFA from the University of British Columbia.

We tell, read and watch stories in every language because we wonder how it must feel to be someone else, to have that person’s point of view. We tell, read and watch stories to find out how others might deal with arrivals, departures and journeys, how they have solved problems that seem intractable, insurmountable, how they beat the system. Stories are the first virtual reality.

Dr. Waryam Singh Sandhu is an award-winning Punjabi author of short stories and non-fiction books. He has produced five critically acclaimed short story collections and three works of non-fiction. His 1998 published collection of short stories, Chauthi Koot (The Fourth Direction), won India’s prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for Punjabi in 2000. Two of these stories were adapted into a film called The Fourth Direction in 2015. Sandhu has been honoured with numerous other awards, including the Sujan Singh Purskar Award and the Punjab Sahit Academy Award. His works have been translated into English, Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali. He is a highly sought-after speaker in global Punjabi literary conference.

Sandhu holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and worked as a lecturer at Lyallpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar, Punjab. He spends his time between India and Canada while being an active in the global Punjabi arts and literary circles.

Some say Punjabi language will die in fifty years. I say Punjabi will never die as long its daughters and sons are alive, speaking and writing in Punjabi. Dhahan Prize inspires new writing around the world. Punjabi literature is rich with a bright future.