Jayapriya Vasudevan has over twenty years experience of working in publishing, during which time she has ‘done it all’.

Born in Calcutta, into a family of writers, she studied literature at college and went on to work for several publishers, where she learned the business first hand – from editing to sales and distribution.

Spotting a gap in the market, she and a partner set up India’s first bookstore cafe in Bangalore. It was here that she began to organize literary salons, inviting up to fifteen authors at a time to speak. Bookseller magazine hailed her as “one of India’s most dynamic booksellers".

In 1997 Jayapriya founded Books Jacaranda literary agency which last year celebrated its Twentieth Anniversary. Under her leadership Jacaranda has continued to grow its diverse list of authors.

During the past two decades Jayapriya has spent several stints living overseas, first in Beijing and latterly in Singapore and Nairobi. Each new country gave her the opportunity for her to meet new authors and make new connections.

Jayapriya has spoken at literary festivals all over Asia, from Istanbul and India to Manila and Singapore and further afield in London and Frankfurt. Recently she returned to India to live and was appointed the Festival Director of the Times of India Literary Festival 2017 and subsequently 2018.