Episode 76: Interview with Author Alka Joshi

In Episode 76 of Literary Prospects, we talk with author Alka Joshi about her new novel, Six Days in Bombay.

Alka is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy, which includes The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, was a NYT bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book club pick, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, & is in development as a Netflix series. Her fourth novel, Six Days in Bombay, is out now. In 2023, Alka was selected for the Forbes 50 over 50 List, celebrating women who are shattering age and gender norms across cultures. Alka was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of the Arts.

In this interview, Alka talks about the unsung Hungarian-Indian painter whose work and mysterious death inspired her latest novel, writing an accidental trilogy, the 2 mistakes beginning authors make, how she persisted for 9 years to get her first novel published (which became an international bestseller), and much more...