A Talk on ‘Putting the story into History’ by Ashwitha Jayakumar

ABOUT THE TALK
Popular history and academic history are often perceived to be at odds, with the former being seen as reductive, while the latter is intimidating to non-scholars. This session will explore the tension between these two fields of history writing, and examine how narrative history uses the building blocks of storytelling to make historical scholarship accessible—and enjoyable!—without compromising on complexity and nuance.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashwitha Jayakumar is the author of The Book of Emperors: An Illustrated History of the Mughals (Penguin Random House) and Incredible Indians: 75 People Who Shaped Modern India (HarperCollins India). She’s worn many different hats in her fifteen years as a professional, from editor to high school teacher and research consultant, and she is also the co-founder of Indian Summer Press, a brand new independent publisher of comics and illustrated books.

Ashwitha is passionate about making history both engaging and accessible to a wide audience. To that end, she has conducted online talks, workshops, and heritage walks for both children and adults, all aimed at encouraging a critical and thoughtful approach to history. Ashwitha holds an MSc in Literature and Society: 1688–1900 from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds.