Kalpna Singh-Chitnis

Kalpna SINGH-CHITNIS (poet, writer, filmmaker; India) is an Indo-American writer, poet and filmmaker based in Greater Los Angeles, California. Author of the Bare Soul and three poetry collections in Hindi, she won the prestigious “Bihar Rajbhasha Award” (1986-87) given by the government of Bihar, India, for her first poetry collection Chand Ka Paivand [Patch of Moon] before age 21, and the title of ‘Bihar Shri’ (Jewel of Bihar) in 1988. She also received the Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award in 2014 in New Delhi, for her contributions in the fields of literature and film at national and international levels. Her short film “Girl With An Accent” received the Silver Award at Mumbai SMTV Film Festival in 2006, and her narrative feature “Goodbye My Friend” has been officially selected at several international film festivals.

Kalpna’s works have been translated into several languages and published widely in the Indian subcontinent, Europe and North America. She is the creator and editor of Life and Legends, a multilingual literary magazine, and contributing editor of Levure litteraire in Paris, France. She is also the founder and director of the Silent River Film Festival in the United States.