In conversation with Sheela Banerjee, author of ‘What’s In A Name?’

Join award-winning writer Sheela Banerjee for a raw and authentic conversation on race, belonging, and identity, with Priya Aggarwal-Shah, founder and director of PREACH Inclusion.

About the event

To mark South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM), PREACH Inclusion is bringing you a live conversation with Sheela Banerjee, award-winning author of What’s In A Name?

This year’s SAHM theme, “Roots to Routes,” explores the journeys that shape South Asian identities – how migration, heritage, and personal stories influence who we are today. Sheela’s book delves deep into these themes, tracing how names carry countless stories of tradition and belonging – be that a legacy of colonialism or persecution, the desire to fit in, or the complex cultural inheritance from one’s parents.

A writer, journalist, and academic, Sheela’s work has appeared in The Guardian, Observer, Metro, and Grazia. Her debut book, What’s In A Name? (Hodder), won Best Non-Fiction at the Eastern Eye Arts & Culture Awards 2024 and was named a New Statesman Book of the Year. Before becoming an author, she spent several years as a programme maker for the BBC and Channel 4, later leaving television to pursue a PhD on ghosts in modernist literature. She grew up mainly in Hayes, west London, and in India.

In this live conversation, we’ll explore the links between names, heritage and personal histories, unpacking what they reveal about migration, race and our lived experiences in modern multicultural Britain. Expect a discussion that’s authentic, unfiltered and relatable, as we examine the forces that shape who we are today.

More details and tickets here: https://www.preachinclusion.com/events/in-conversation-with-sheela-banerjee-author-of-whats-in-a-name