Writers from India

Hulkuntemath Shivamurthy Shastry SHIVA PRAKASH (poet, playwright, India; born 1954, Bangalore) is the author of four books of poems in Kannada; eight plays which were staged and published; two books on literary and theatre criticism, and two books of poetry translations. H.S. Shiva Prakash has taught English in several colleges in Karnataka, and is currently English editor for Indian Literature at the Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi. His poetry, plays, and translations have received awards from the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, and the productions of several of his plays have received national recogntion in India. Prof. Shiva Prakash has been actively involved in workshops for young playwrights and poetry translation, and his lectures on Indian theatre have brought him to Berlin, Cambridge, and the Nehru Centre in London. His most recent works include the play "Shakespeare's Dream Ship," anthologized in Same-Sex Love in India (St. Martin's Press, 2000). He earned the Ph.D. from Bangalore University in 1998. His participation in the IWP is supported by the University of Iowa.

Shashi WARRIER (fiction writer, India; born 1959, Ottapalam, Kerala State) started his career as an economist and a software specialist in the early 1980s. Mr. Warrier's writing career began in 1994 with a juvenile fiction work The Hidden Continent (Penguin/Puffin), and he moved on to thrillers including Night of the Krait and The Orphan . Sniper was published by Harper Collins in 1999. He has also published numerous short stories on an Internet site, "Rediff on the Net." He provides regular reviews for various Indian journals. His participation in the IWP is through the US Department of State.

S. DIWAKAR is highly regarded both as a short-story writer and as a translator, having published many translations of works by Nobel Prize-winning writers, as well as collections of his own short stories and poems. Mr. Diwakar is a book reviewer for the prestigious Indian Review of Books, and an editor in the Office of Public Affairs at the American Consulate in Chennai. He is participating courtesy of the South Asia Studies Program at the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa.

Rajeevan THACHOM POYIL (poet, essayist, publisher; b. 1959, India) is a multifaceted writer and a well-established poet in the Malayalam language. He has translated his own poems from Malayalam into English and published two collections each in Malayalam and in English, in addition to a collection of essays in Malayalam on literary and cultural issues. His English-language poetry is represented in various anthologies such as the The Promise of the Rest (UK), Midnight's Grandchildren (Macedonia), The Green Dragon (South Africa) and The Brink (India). His poetry has been translated into Italian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Rumanian, Tamil, Hindi Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi. He writes bi-weekly columns in "The New Indian Express" and "The Hindu," and is the editor of Yeti Books, the first international imprint from Kerala. Mr. Thachompoyil is participating courtesy of the Department of State.

Srijato BANDYOPADHYAY, among the most prolific of the new generation of Bengali-language poets, has published eight poetry collections, including Flying Jokers (2004), which won two literary awards, and The Story of Katiusha (2006). His poems appear in numerous magazines in West Bengal. He lives in Kolkata, where he edits the literary journal Jaruri Abastha [State of Emergency]. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

Vijay NAIR is the author of the novel Master of Life Skills (2006) and several plays. Recent stage productions include Scars in My Memory; Shadows on the Wall; Weeds; The Window; and The Gloomy Rabbit, all of which he wrote, directed and/or staged. In 2005, Nair received the Charles Wallace Award from the British Council, and was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Kent, Canterbury. Current projects include a second novel, a new play, and a film script. His website is www.vijaynair.net; he participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.

Mani RAO is the author of seven books of poetry. Her essays and poems have appeared in Tinfish, Wasafiri, West Coast Line, 91st Meridian, Fulcrum, Zoland Poetry and many anthologies, with translations published in seven languages. Rao is currently completing a poetic translation of the Bhagavad Gītā from Sanskrit.

Chandrahas CHOUDHURY is based in Mumbai. His book reviews and essays appear weekly in the Indian newspaper Mint Lounge, and have been published in dailies, magazines and journals worldwide. His short stories are included in the anthologies India, First Proof 2, and India Shining. He is the editor of India: A Traveler’s Literary Companion and writes the literary weblog “The Middle Stage” (at middlestage.blogspot.com). His first novel, Arzee the Dwarf, was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth First Book Award. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.

Sridala SWAMI (poet, fiction writer, children’s writer; India) is the author of the poetry collection A Reluctant Survivor (2007), and four children’s books. Her creative and critical work has been published and anthologized in Wasafiri, The South Asian Review, Her Kind (the VIDA blog), and The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, among others. Swami has been a film editor and teacher, curated a radio program “The Poetry Mohalla,” is at work on an international collaborative writing project titled Chirality, and on the text/image project ‘V’ is for Valley; she is also preparing a collection of interviews with contemporary Indian poets.  Her second poetry volume, Escape Artist, is forthcoming.  Her participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Rochelle POTKAR (fiction writer, poet; India) is the author of The Arithmetic of Breasts and Other Stories, and has three works in progress—a novel, a book of prose, and a book of poetry. Widely published online and in print, Rochelle is the co-editor of Neesah magazine, and an active member of Poetry Couture, which hosts poetry readings at cafes across India. Her participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Vivek SHANBHAG (fiction writer, playwright; India), engineer by training, is the author of two plays, five short-story collections and three novels. His writing has appeared in Granta, Seminar, and Indian Literature; his most recent novel, Ghachar Ghochar, appeared in English in 2016. He writes in Kannada, and is the founder of the literary magazine Desha Kaala. His participation is made possible by the William B. Quarton Fund through the Cedar Rapids Community Foundation and the U.R. Ananthamurthy Fund for Karnataka Culture through the University of Iowa.

Tilottama MAJUMDER তিলোত্তমা মজুমদার (fiction writer, poet; India) won the Ananda Puroshkar, given for excellence in Bengali literature, for her novel Basudhara (2003); more than ten titles have followed. Her fiction and poetry have been translated into several Indian languages, including English; she also writes for children. She works at the Ananda Publishers in Kolkata. Her participation is courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

On the Map Interview

Raghavendra MADHU (poet, activist; India) has authored three books of poetry: Make Me Some Love to Eat, Stick No Bills, and Being Non-essential, all published by Red River (New Delhi). The founder of Poetry Couture, a movement to create free spaces for poetry in many cities of India, he regularly curates events at American Center libraries in India and conducts performance poetry workshops for young adults. His poems have been widely published and translated. He participates courtesy of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.