My book tour is (mostly) over. But I wanted to share a little bit about what it was like in one of the most exciting spots I hit: Torino, Italy. I traveled there for four days in mid-May, for the Torino book festival, where I spent most of my time hanging out with Tahmima Anam, the author of A Golden Age.

Tahmima and I have the same fab Italian publisher, Garzanti, and the same fab editor, Elisabetta. Getting to know Tahmima was unexpected and awesome! She is one of the nicest and funniest people I met on tour—and she was also generous with her advice. I am reading her book now, and it’s fantastic. (Previous Sepia coverage here.) Anyway, she’s also a Sepia reader, and when I told her I wanted to blog about our time in Italy, she readily agreed.

We spent a fair amount of time giving interviews. As far as Tahmima and I could tell, there were four female South Asian authors at the Torino festival. It took hardly a moment before someone wanted all four of us in the same spot. Two of us wore saris. Nope, it was the other two.

Left to right: Tahmima Anam, Sunny Singh, Stefano Bortolussi, Selina Sen, and me.

This was a segment for Italian television. At first, Tahmima and I thought it was just going to be the two of us. As we waited on the balcony outside the studio, however, it became apparent that that was not the case.

“Is every South Asian person in Turin on this balcony?” Tahmima (right) asked Elisabetta, our editor (left). Um, probably. But always fun to meet other writers.

Tahmima and I looked on in admiration as Sunny Singh and Selina Sen sailed into the studio in their silken saris. The TV presenter exclaimed his appreciation while we gawked awkwardly in our jeans (Tahmima) and blazers (Sugi). Sunny told him that her sari was the color of the Ganges at sunrise.

Cue oohs and aaahs. The TV presenter, a genial gentleman named Stefano Bortolussi, told us that they had decided to have all four of us together because we had all written such strong female characters. (Or maaaaaaaaybe it was because we were all South Asian? You decide.) Later, he accidentally said that Selina Sen, who’s from Bengal but lives in Delhi, was Sri Lankan (“srilankese”). She promptly corrected him, but then he thought she was Bangladeshi. It’s a rough world out here, folks. Not the least for Stefano, who had to juggle questions and answers among our rather complicated and vocal quartet.

You can watch the whole interview here. (Found the link via Sunny’s website. Don’t be thrown by the Italian if you don’t speak it—we switch to English after introductions.)

In addition to the various television interviews, Tahmima and I also had to go to a bunch of photo-shooting sessions. In Italy, news organizations tend not to use their own photographers; they use photographs from agencies, which send staffers to events like the book fair.

Tahmima and I each had our photos taken about ten thousand times. In Italy this is especially funny because to make their photos stand out, the photographers ask you to do weird poses, like holding your ear. Just one ear. The left. Pull your earlobe! Tahmima warned me of this in advance with one particular photographer so when he asked me to do it I couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Serio! Serio!” he said.

I tried really hard but I might have been smiling a bit. Later, Tahmima and Elisabetta and I shot our own version of this pose.

Other choice poses: Hold your face in your hands. Hold your hands out in front of you a la “Stop in the Name of Love.” Tilt your head. Drape your sari differently (Tahmima). I love that color (Sugi). Bella! You are a flower! (One photographer really said that. I am a flower?) I wish I could show you all these pictures, but I don’t have ’em. Overall, kind of entertaining.

Finally, at the book fair itself, Tahmima and I were both part of something called the Lingua Madre (“Mother Tongue”). We each had an event. The author sits between an interpreter and an interviewer (in my case, a professor, and in Tahmima’s, a journalist). An actress does dramatic readings from the books and then there is question-and-answer.

This was the setup.

Left: interviewer. Center: Author (here, Tahmima). Right: Interpreter. To the left of the interviewer, just outside the picture, sits the same actress whose face is projected above the author’s head.

My interviewer was a professor of Oriental studies. It was interesting listening to his version of what was going on in Sri Lanka. I added a little bit to his description. We also discussed the title of the book. It was extremely hard speaking through an interpreter, mostly because you have to remember to stop at intervals and let her translate.

So that’s what I sound like in Italian!

In Italian, my book is called “Amori e Foglie de Te,” which translates to something like “Lovers and Tea Leaves.” (My editor, Elisabetta, tells me that in Italian, “lovers” refers to all kinds of love, including family love. My translator was also at the fair; it was nice to meet her and after talking to her, I got the sense that it must be a good translation—she was so kind and also very obviously meticulous.)

My Italian cover looks like this.

Tahmima’s book has a different title in Italy as well: “I giorni dell’amore e della Guerra.” This, translated loosely, is “Days of Love and War.”

T’s book cover in Italy:

Italy’s a very different book market than the U.S.—much less driven by book clubs. But there’s a lively reading culture for sure! We had a great reception in Italy and it was so interesting to meet readers. My favorite was a little boy who asked me, in very shy Italian, to sign a book for his mom.

And the best part by far was getting to hang out with all the cool people—especially Elisabetta and Tahmima, but also all the other Garzanti and book fair staff who made our stay so comfortable. We were wined and dined to the hilt. Lots of foodie discussion—including, if I recall correctly, a mention of a Sri Lankan restaurant in Milan. When I go back—and I must go back!—I will find it. (It appears to be called Serendib. Scroll down after clicking the link.)

Right after the Fiera del Libro, Tahmima went to South Africa for the awarding of the Commonwealth Prize, which she won. Hurray, T! You can read some of her columns from The Guardian (U.K.) here.

A couple of other Italian pics:

Stefano Mauri, the CEO of Gruppo Editoriale Mauri Spagnol. (Garzanti is part of GEMS.) He is listening VERY intently to Tahmima!

Me, Tahmima and Elisabetta after our Lingua Madre events.