Lathika George In Conversation with Mala Dharmananda

Centre for Stories invites you to a conversation with Lathika George, the 2025 Winner of the Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellowship. Based in South India, Lathika is the author of The Kerala Kitchen and Mother Earth, Sister Seed: Travels through India’s Farmlands. She will share her reflections on landscape, environment, food, and culture, themes that run deeply through her writing and work as a landscape designer, organic gardener, and environmentalist.

Lathika will be in conversation with Mala Dharmananda, an avid reader and passionate supporter of the arts and diverse communities. Mala was a founding member of Steamworks Theatre Company, is actively involved with the Temple of Fine Arts, and currently works with the Multicultural Services Centre.

With a $12,000 honorarium, the Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellowship supports writers who explore ideas of belonging and cultural understanding. During her eighteen-day residency in Western Australia, Lathika will research the history of early Australian missionaries who travelled to India in the last century.

Named in honour of Dr Patricia Kailis, a respected doctor, academic, businesswoman, and philanthropist dedicated to equity for women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Fellowship continues through the generous support of her son, Dr George Kailis.

Join us for an evening of conversation, celebration, and connection.