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www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 20 BOOKS March 13, 2026 Two Indian-Origin Authors In Long-List Of 2026 Women’s Prize For Fiction T heWomen’s Prize Trust recently announced its long list of authors up for consideration for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Two of the 16 authors are of Indian origin – Sheena Kalayil and Megha Majumdar. “An expansive list that showcases the profound force, resonance and scale of fiction writing, the 16 titles – including nine from independent publishers and seven debuts – are a true treasure trove for readers,” the Trust said in its March 4 announcement. The winner of the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, sponsored by Audible and Baileys, will receive £30,000, anonymously endowed, along with a stat- uette known as the ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the late artist Grizel Niven. This year’s judges include Chair Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Aus- tralia, poet, novelist and essayist, Mona Arshi, author, presenter, poet and speaker, Salma El-Wardany, writer, podcaster, actor and comedian, Cariad Lloyd, and author, broadcaster and DJ, Annie Macmanus. The judges will now narrow down the longlist to a shortlist of six, which will be announced on 22 April 2026. The winner of the 2026Women’s Prize for Fiction will be revealed on Thursday 11 June 2026 at theWomen’s Prize Trust’s summer party in Bedford Square Gardens, London (along with the winner of its sister prize, the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction). The books tackle a wide range of issues – global turbulence to familial relationships, “and reflects on today’s ever increasing crisis of identity and search for human connection.” Majumdar is a NewYork-based author from India. Her debut novel A Burning was on the NewYork Times Bestseller list. Her book A Guardian and a a Thief under consideration, was selected by the Oprah’s Book Club. Kalayil is the author of The Bureau of Second Chances, The Inheritance, The WildWind and the book for which she is longlisted -The Others (2025). The full list in alphabetical order by author surname is: • Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps (Weatherglass Books) • Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi (4th Estate, HarperCollins Publishers UK) • Moderation by Elaine Castillo (Atlan- tic Books) • Flashlight by Susan Choi (Jonathan Cape, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK) • Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (Eu- ropa Editions UK) • The Benefactors byWendy Erskine (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Ha- chette UK) • The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK) • The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchin- son (Cassava Republic Press) • The Others by Sheena Kalayil (Fly on theWall Press) • Kingfisher by Rozie Kelly (Saraband) • Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canon- gate) • Audition by Katie Kitamura (Fern Press, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK) • A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Ma- jumdar (Scribner, Simon & Schuster UK) • Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McCo- naghy (Canongate) • The Best of Everything by Kit deWaal (Tinder Press, Headline Publishing Group, Hachette UK) • A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang (Dead Ink) By a StaffWriter Kanwal Rekhi, The First Indian To Take A Company Public On NASDAQ, Releases Memoir 2/24/26 The Groundbreaker: Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and The Rise of Modern India; with Foreword by Congressman Ro Khanna, Available Now NEWYORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ K anwal Rekhi1is one of Silicon Val- ley’s most influential - and least conventional - pioneers: the first Indian-American founder to take a company public on a US stock exchange, a co-architect of India’s technological rise on the global stage, and an ambitious vi- sionary who paved the way for the Indian tech CEO’s that now run Google, Microsoft and many more. In his new book Groundbreaker2 : Entrepreneurship, the American Dream, and the Rise of Modern India (Diver- sion Books; 2/24/26), Rekhi recounts his humble rise from a house in India with no running water to becoming the “undisput- ed Godfather of the Silicon Valley’s Indian Mafia,” as dubbed by Fortune Magazine. Arriving as an engineering student in the tumultuous 1960s, Rekhi worked his way through defense and technology compa- nies in the 70s before founding his startup, Excelan, in the 80s. It was there that he commercialized eth- ernet - which became the foundation of the Internet - before interacting with lu- minaries named Jobs, Gates, and Ellison on his rise through tech. After being acquired by Novell, Rekhi became the number two executive and the number two software company in the world. He went on to advise presidents and prime ministers on culture- shifting policies and is perhaps best known for his work mentor- ing and launching the careers of over 10,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom have become millionaires and even bil- lionaires. In the book Rekhi also explores how competition and alliances might evolve in the future between America and India; and why the cooperation of the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy is crucial to the contin- ued balance of global power. Rekhi’s legacy extends far beyond his own success. As the president of TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneur), he helped co-found and build the world’s largest mentoring network for In- dian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and jump-started India’s startup ecosystem years before it became a global force. He has mentored politicians (U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, to name a few) and his philanthropy has reshaped business edu- cation and entrepreneurship programs across India and the U.S. Kanwal has been a part of 200 early-stage teams, including Exodus Communications (IPO), which trafficked half of America’s internet usage at it’s peak; Poshmark (IPO), redBus (acq. Ibibo Group), Sierra Atlantic (Hitachi), and NetMagic (NTT). Today, Kanwal is regarded as a founda- tional figure in global tech, a champion of immigrant ingenuity, and a truth-telling advocate for entrepreneurship as society’s most powerful engine of progress. A part- ner at InventUS venture capital fund and Silicon Valley Quad (SVQ), Rekhi is also a prolific writer with a substantial LinkedIn following. Kanwal is also featured in the book Indian Genius released by Harper Collins in 2024, and in the forthcoming documentary Breaking the Code, based on his life, which will launch in mid-2026. He is based in Los Gatos, California. A spring tour featuring Rekhi speaking to audiences in cities across the U.S. is currently underway, with events in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta among others. More infor- mation on his appearances can be found on his LinkedIn. The Groundbreaker: Entrepreneur- ship, the American Dream, and the Rise of Modern India, tells the story of a man whose life mirrors the rise of modern India, and helps to explain the sudden rise of Indian Americans was actually not so sudden, but a long, hard-earned journey filled with sacrifices, hardships, hope and belief. Available now anywhere books are sold. Press Release Sheena Kalayil Author Megha Majumdar holds up her latest book. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @SHEENAKALAYILAUTHOR PHOTO: INSTAGRAM @MEGHA.MAJ