Neha Dixit is an independent journalist and author based in New Delhi. For over two decades, she has reported on politics, gender, labor and social justice in South Asia, producing investigative, narrative and long-form journalism for Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Caravan, The Wire and others. Her work has exposed extrajudicial killings, hate crimes, human trafficking, unethical clinical trials, and sectarian majoritarian violence.

She has won over a dozen national and international awards, including the International Press Freedom Award (2019), the Chameli Devi Jain Award (2017), and the Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism (2011). Her debut book, "The Many Lives of Syeda X" (Juggernaut, 2024), traces 30 years in the life of a migrant Muslim woman navigating Delhi’s informal labor economy, holding over 50 jobs without minimum wage. The book, a vivid portrait of urban India’s invisible workforce, was named Book of the Year 2024 by The Hindu and Deccan Herald. It won the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman and Kalinga Best Debut Award and a Special Jury Mention by the CG Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing.

Her talk will highlight the struggles of urban poor workers, precarious labor, and income inequality, showing how economic marginalization intersects with political and social exclusion. It will reflect on the hidden struggles and the everyday realities of citizens caught in the machinery of the modern state, amid shrinking media freedom and democratic backsliding.

“The Many Lives of Syeda X” has been published in four language versions
to date. Counterclockwise from bottom right: English, South Asia (Juggernaut
Books); English, UK and Commonwealth (Footnote Press); Telugu (Malupu
Books); and Hindi (Rajkamal Pradashan). Photo: Instagram post of Neha Dixit.