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Ali AlMaazmi (b. 1996) is a celebrated Emirati poet whose work reflects a profound engagement with time, memory, and existential contemplation. He emerged on the literary scene with the critically acclaimed collection The Crow’s Grave (2020), followed by Where My Dead Days Sit (2024), cementing his place as one of the UAE’s most compelling poetic voices.
Marked by a meditative tone and modern lyricism, AlMaazmi’s poetry explores personal and philosophical landscapes, often navigating themes of loss, silence, and interior exile. His voice—at once restrained and emotionally resonant—has found an audience beyond the Arab world, with his poems translated into English, Spanish, French, and Chinese, reflecting the growing global interest in his writing.
In recognition of his contribution to cultural dialogue through literature, AlMaazmi was awarded the Silk Road Literature Prize, an honor bestowed upon writers whose works foster intercultural understanding and artistic exchange.
AlMaazmi has represented Emirati literature on the international stage at prominent literary gatherings, including the 33rd International Poetry Festival of Medellín in Colombia and the Berlin Poetry Festival, where his readings introduced Arabic poetics to new audiences in powerful and innovative ways. His engagements also include collaborations with UAE-based cultural initiatives that promote emerging voices in Arabic literature.
With a voice that transcends geographies and genres, Ali AlMaazmi continues to shape contemporary Arabic poetry with elegance, introspection, and quiet power.
Amal Alsahlawi is an Emirati poet, born and raised in Sharjah. She studied Arabic Literature at the University of Sharjah, and writes both freestyle and classical poetry.
She published her first poetry collection in 2020, which was well received across the Arab region. In November 2024, she published her second book Welcome Aboard the Night Train of Sleepless Thoughts, which quickly became one of the bestsellers across the Arab world. In this work, Amal introduced a new literary genre she calls Transient Prose — a form dedicated to short, philosophically profound literary pieces that capture deep existential meanings in concise, elegant texts.
Her poem The Wonders of Time was successfully performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (The MET) through the MET Live Arts initiative by Faraj Abyad in July 2021.
In May 2025, her poem I Long to Your Name was also performed live at The MET in a concert attended by an audience of over 1,000 people.
In December 2022, her poem I Love Your Voice was performed by Emirati opera singer Fatma Al Hashimi at the UAE Embassy in Paris.
Amal has participated and performed in numerous global and local poetry events, including her most recent international participation at the China Youth Poetry Festival for BRICS Countries in June 2024.
In May 2025, Amal was honored with the Silver Camel Award at the Fifth Silk Road Poetry Festival, a recognition of her unique contribution to contemporary Arabic poetry and international literary dialogue.
Through her poetry, Amal addresses themes of feminism, philosophy, and existentialism, often reflecting the anxieties of modern life through both classical and freestyle forms.
Amy Singh writes from the crossroads of the personal and political, exploring love, loss, and longing through her poetry. Her debut collection, Singing Over Bones, was published in April 2025. She curates Enter Poem, a podcast and newsletter to nurture deep reading, reflective listening of poetry.
Her poem Daak: To Lahore with Love sparked a cross-border letter-writing movement, and her work has resonated at festivals across South Asia—from Bangalore, Dehradun, Delhi, and Chandigarh to the Spoken Festival in Mumbai and the Faiz Festival in Lahore—carrying echoes of resistance and love.
From 2017 to 2022, Amy founded and ran Cross Connection Poetree, a street performance initiative that reclaimed public spaces through art, bringing poetry to unexpected places. Her work has appeared in Vogue, BBC, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Nishan Magazine, and other publications. A mango lover, soup maker, and rain-singer who photographs skies with endless enthusiasm, she lives in Chandigarh with an ever-growing library and a never-ending playlist of old songs.
Anju Makhija is a Sahitya Akademi, award-winning poet, playwright and translator. She has written four poetry collections including View from the Web and Pickling Season; co-translated Freedom & Fissures and Seeking the Beloved: the mystical verse of Shah Abdul Latif; co-edited three anthologies related to women, Indo-English theatre and children’s poetry. Her collection of drama, Mumbai Traps: Collected Plays, is widely available. Her latest book is Changing, Unchanging: New and Selected Poems (1995-2023).
Anju has won several awards including The Sahitya Akademi English Translation Prize, The All India Poetry Competition, The BBC World Regional Poetry Prize and The Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship. She has been on the English Advisory Board of the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, for 5 years and is the co-founder of Pondicherry/Auroville Poetry Festival. Anju is also a member of the G100 India World Peace organization.
Currently, she is translating the work of Sindhi, sufi poet, Sachal Sarmast and is in the process of writing ‘Minor Voices’, highlighting the experiences of underprivileged youth.
Anuradha Singh, a renowned contemporary Hindi poet, writer, editor, and translator based in Bengaluru, is the author of the poetry collections Ishwar Nahin Neend Chahiye and Utsav Ka Pushp Nahin Hoon. She has been honored with the prestigious Kedar Samman, Sheela Siddhantkar Samman, and Hemant Smriti Samman for her exceptional poetry. She curated and translated Lhasa Ka Lahoo, a powerful collection showcasing the poignant works of exiled Tibetan poets that transcend borders, and edited Bacha Rahe Sparsh, a compelling anthology honoring poet Mangalesh Dabral’s profound legacy. She also actively engages in cross-cultural literary dialogues through festivals and anthologies.
Anvar Ali (born 1 July 1966) is an Indian poet and lyricist writing in Malayalam. He is also a literary editor and critic, playwright, translator, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker.
Ali’s first collection of poems, Mazhakkalam (The Rainy Season, 1999), established him as a prominent voice in contemporary Malayalam poetry. Ali’s poetry collections include Aadiyaadi Alanja Marangale (Ye Trees, Swaying Ramblers, 2009) and Mehboob Express (2020). Eternal Sculptures (2007) is a collection of his poems in English translation. His novella, Njan Rappai, was published in 1995.
Ali’s poems have been translated into various Indian and foreign languages and have been included in several anthologies of contemporary poetry, such as Innan Ganges flyter in i natten (A Swedish Anthology of Indian Poetry in Hindi, Malayalam and English, edited by Tomas Lofstrom and Birgitta Wallin); Singing in the Dark - A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown (edited by K. Satchidanandan and Nishi Chawla); Oxford India Anthology of Modern Malayalam Literature, Volume 1 (edited by P. P. Raveendran and GS Jayasree); The Tree of Tongues (edited by E V Ramakrishnan) and 127 Poetry Voices (edited by Glorjana Veber and Metin Cengiz). His poems are regularly published in prestigious Malayalam weeklies and literary journals and magazines, as well as international journals including Asymtote, Indian Literature and Muse India.
Ali has authored two plays: Ozile Mahamanthrikan (2015), based on the American novel Wizard of Oz, and Njanum Potte Bappa Olmaram Kanuvan (Can I Go See the Magical Tree, Father?), a musical play based on a folk tale from Lakshadweep.
Ali translated Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, the Japanese autobiographical memoir of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi – a literary classic, into Malayalam in 1994. He co-translated Sirpi Balasubramaniam’s poetry collection Oru Gramathile Nadi (A River in a Village, 2010). He has translated a series of modern Anglophone African poems, as well as poems from Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Assamese, into Malayalam. Ali translated Alfred Farag’s Egyptian play Ali Janah al-Tabrizi and His servant Quffa to Malayalam. Other Works Ali has notably experimented with the performance of his poetry. In 2015–2017, he created a poetry band, Leaves of Grass, with guitarist and composer John P. Varkey. The band’s performances combined the stylistic aspects of performance poetry with rock music. In 2018, he collaborated with Olam, an instrumental band, to perform Mehboob Express, a long narrative poem that has gained acclaim as a chronological sociocultural saga and critique of Indian politics. In 2017, in the maiden show at Uru Art Harbour, Mattancherry, curated by artist Riyas Komu, Ali showcased the lasting cultural life of legendary Mattancherry singer Mehboob through an audio-visual installation. Ali is currently participating in a South African–Indian experimental performance project on the theme of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi with musicians, poets, lyricists and visual artists from both the countries.
Produced under the banner of Image Commune (2015), Ali’s debut documentary film on Attoor Ravi Varma, Maruvili (Call from the other Shore), was selected for the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (2015); Mumbai International Film Festival (2016); Jaffna International Film Festival, Sri Lanka (2016) and SIGNS Festival of Federation of Film Societies of India, Kerala (2015).
Ali co-edited the journals Pakshikkoottam (Flock of Birds), an alternate journal and publishing house, and Kavithakku Oru Idam (A Space for Poetry), a journal for new poetry in Malayalam. He was the chief content editor of Seventy-Five Years of Malayalam Cinema, a digital encyclopaedia produced by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (2003).
Ali was invited to South Korea for the Writer-in-Residence Program of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea in 2007 and attended the 2007 Afro-Asian Literature Festival in Jeonju, Korea. He has presented his work at various poetry, literary and film festivals, including Young Poets Meet, New Delhi (1997); The New Voices, Trivandrum (2004); Asselieh Film Festival, Morocco (2004); Kavi Bharati, Bhopal (2005); Paju Book Festival, South Korea (2014); Sharjah International Book Fair (2014 & 2018); Bharatiya Kavita Samaroh, Patna (2014); Samanvay: IHC Indian Languages’ Festival, New Delhi (2014); Jaffna International Film Festival, Sri Lanka (2016) and Kokrajhar Literary Festival, Bodoland, Assam (2021, 2023).
Dr. Archana Vasudev is a multi-faceted media professional with expertise in film, education, and communication services. She is the screenwriter of the Malayalam feature film "HER" and the short film "Atmanirbhar". Notably, she won the Kerala State Film Critics Special Jury Award 2024 for Best Script for "HER". Archana has managed artist communications for various film projects and is the founder of Talkative, a communications company now offering online media education. In academia, she was a faculty leader and holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Journalism (Film Studies) from the University of Madras. Her research has been published and presented internationally. She began her career as an Account Associate and Trainer at Google, New Delhi.Dr. Archana Vasudev is a versatile media professional with expertise spanning film, education, and communication services. A screenwriter, she penned the Malayalam feature film "HER" and the short film "Atmanirbhar." Her work on "HER" earned her the 2024 Kerala State Film Critics Special Jury Award for Best Script.
Beyond screenwriting, Archana has experience managing artist communications for various film projects. She is also the founder of Talkative, a communications company that now provides online media education.
Bishnu Mohapatra is a well-known Indian poet who writes his poetry in Odia. He has authored five volumes of poetry and has translated two volumes of Pablo Neruda’s poetry into Odia. A Fragile World, a book of his poetry in English translation, was published in 2008. He served as the national jury member for the Moortidevi Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith, Delhi, from 2013 to 2015. A volume of his poetry in Hindi translation – Buddha aur Aam – was published by Pralek Prakashan, Mumbai, in 2022. Bishnu’s poetry carries not only a theorist’s critical gaze but, more importantly, a seeker’s voice. At a time of great uncertainty and alienation, his poetry seeks to re-enchant the world without drowning out contemporary realities.
A volume of his poetry in translation – Rain Incarnations – was published by Speaking Tiger in 2025. He is in the process of completing a volume of Rilke’s poetry in Odia translation.
Currently, Bishnu is a Professor of Politics and the Director of Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at KREA University, Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, India. He served as the regional anchor of India and South Asia for the World Humanities Report (WHR), published in 2024.
A poet, translator, and essayist, Claudia Keelan’s artistic practice has been influenced by the radical democracy proposed by the poet Walt Whitman, the passive resistance of Martin Luther King Jr.. and the experimental vein of Modernism that produced Rimbaud, Baudelaire, William Carlos Williams and Gertude Stein.
She is the author of 10 books, most recently We Step into the Sea: New and Collected Poems and Ecstatic Émigré: An Ethics of Practice published in the University of Michigan’s Poets on Poetry Series. Her translations of the women troubadours are collected in Truth of My Songs: Poems of the Trobairitz (Omnidawn Press.) Her awards include the Jerome Shestack Prize from the American Poetry Review, and the Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books, among others. She is a Distinguished Barack Scholar at UNLV where she is the editor of Interim and The Test Site Poetry Book Series.
Danish Husain is an actor, poet, storyteller, and a theatre director. He was instrumental in reviving the lost art form of Urdu storytelling, Dastangoi, which he later evolved into a multilingual storytelling format, Qissebaazi. He lives in Mumbai and runs his own theatre company The Hoshruba Repertory.
Among his known screen works are Bard of Blood, Tajmahal 1989, Bombay Begums, Delhi Crime Season 2 and the Mexican film Lucca’s World on Netflix; as well as Mee Raqsam and Crime Beat on Zee5.
He writes poetry in English, Hindi, and Urdu. His poems have been published in several anthologies including Sudeep Sen’s Converse: Contemporary Poetry by Indians to commemorate the 75th year of Indian independence, and Usawa Literary Review, to name a few. He was invited by Urdu International, Australia to perform and participate in their international Mushaira.
Debasish Lahiri is an internationally acclaimed poet. His poems have been widely published in in international journals of repute.
His poetry has been translated extensively into French, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian.
He has nine collections of poetry to his credit, the most recent being "A Certain Penance of Light" (Red River, 2025).
Lahiri has one collection of essays, two co-edited books and a co-authored book also to his credit.
Lahiri is currently on the editorial board of Gitanjali & Beyond (Scottish Centre for Tagore Studies), Migrating Minds: A Journal of Cultural Cosmopolitanism & The Riveraine Muse.
Lahiri is the recipient of the Prix-du Merite, Naji Naaman Literary Prize 2019. He is an honorary member of Maison Naaman pour la Culture.
He lives in Kolkata.
Devashish Makhija is a poet, author, graphic artist, screenwriter and filmmaker. He has written and directed the multiple Filmfare Award-winning Joram, the National Award-winning Bhonsle and the internationally acclaimed Ajji, alongwith several multiply-awarded short films.
Makhija has had his own solo show of graphic-verse Occupying Silence, has written the bestselling children's books When Ali Became Bajrangbali, Why Paploo was perplexed, We are the dancing forest, and Go Go Flamingo!; a critically acclaimed collection of 49 short stories Forgetting, the multiple-award-winning YA novel Oonga, and the collection of poetry Bewilderness. He has been widely published by the Sahitya Akademi, Harper-Collins, Penguin, Akashic, Red River, Tulika, Scholastic, and many others.
Gagan Gill is a renowned Hindi poet. She was the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award in 2024 for her poetry collection, Main Jab Tak Aai Bahar. Born and brought up in New Delhi, Gill holds a Masters degree in English literature from Delhi University. She worked with The Times of India group and Sunday Observer as a literary editor for over a decade; and was a visiting writer from India at the International Writing Program in Iowa (1990) and a Nieman Fellow for journalism at Harvard University in 1992-93. Gill eventually left journalism to focus on literature and poetry.
In over four decades of writing, Gill has authored five collections of poetry and four books of prose, including literary criticism and travelogues. Additionally, her bibliography spans across English and Punjabi as an editor and a prolific translator. Gill has travelled to China, Germany, Mauritius, Nepal, France, England, etc, as a member of writers delegation or to conduct workshops. In 2017, at the invitation of Sofia University, Bulgaria, she directed a translation workshop of Hindi professors and scholars from across Europe. Gill’s works have been translated into several languages and are part of American, British, and German curriculums. She currently lives in Noida.
I am Hajeera Khan from Bengaluru. Doing research on ‘Muslim representation in Modern Kannada Dramas ’ at Kannada University, Hampi.
Working as an Assistant Professor.
I am a Contemporary Poet.
I write poems and Participated in several National Poetry Sessions, Literature festivals and Sammelanas.
My poems were published in some journals and Magazines too.
Justh is a singer-songwriter who is on a journey to figure out his inner truths and share it with the world through his art. Justh predominantly writes in Hindi and has a unique style of songwriting. His last song ‘Chor’ turned out to be a big success and he has just released his latest song ‘Unse Jaake Kehdo’ which is winning hearts.
Born and brought up in Dhanbad, Jharkhand; Lovely Goswami is a Hindi poet who writes prose in both Hindi and English. Her first poetry collection ‘Udasi Meri Matribhasha Hai’ was published by Vani Prakashan in 2019. The collection was shortlisted for Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in 2020 and won the Kedarnath Singh Smriti Samman in 2022. She authored a fantasy thriller novel ‘Vanika’ (Vani Prakashan, 2023), which was shortlisted for Valley of Words Book Award in the Hindi Fiction category in 2024 and Jankipul Shashibhushan Dwivedi Samman in 2025. Her second poetry collection ‘Pankhudi Ki Dhaal’ was published by Vani Prakashan in 2024. She had earlier authored a book on myths in 2015. Her poems have been translated into several Indian and foreign languages and appear in numerous magazines and journals.
Born and brought up in India, Madhan Karky completed his Bachelors in Computer Science in the reputed College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University in 2001.
In 2002, Madhan Karky flew to Australia to pursue his Masters in Information Technology in University of Queensland, Australia. He was awarded the degree with High Distinction and a full scholarship towards his PhD.
On successful completion of his PhD, Madhan Karky returned home to Chennai.
He worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Anna University between 2009 - 2013. He has published numerous papers and research articles on Tamil Computing. Lyric Engineering is his pet area of research. He is a dynamic teacher and aims at inculcating originality in research among his students.
Along with his wife Nandini, Madhan co-founded Mellinam Education, a company that offers Education related products and services to Tamils around the world. He authored Mellinam’s first project iPaatti 1.0, a collection of songs for the information era Tamil children.
Karky began his lyric writing career in Director Shankar’s Endhiran starring Superstar Rajnikanth & Aishwarya Rai. His first song, Irumbile Oar Irudhayam, for the same project, was composed and sung by Academy Award Winner A.R Rahman. The song fetched Karky numerous awards including Vijay TV’s Best Find of the Year 2010.
Penning Ennamo Edho in the movie Ko showcased Karky’s thirst for freshness. His lines Kuviyamillaa oru kaatchi pezhai, that describes the state of a confused photographer with photographic terminologies made the song so very unique. The song stayed at No 1 in most charts for over 6 months and dominated the charts for over a year. The song won many awards for Karky. The song was chosen as the Song of the year 2011 by Critics and Fans in many award events.
Zhe Yindu, a Mandarin song penned by Karky for 7aam Arivu and the 16 language love song Ask Laskaa in the movie Nanban brought to light Karky’s love for languages. Ask Laska stayed at #1 in charts for over 12 months in Singapore radio.
Kurumugil, from Sita Ramam, Sivaa Sivaaya from Baahubali, Adiye from Director Maniratnam’s Kadal, Pookkale from I, Mona Gasolina from Lingaa & En Iniya Thanimaiye from Teddy were big hits.
Karky has penned over 950 songs in 400 movies and has also penned dialogues for popular movies such as Endhiran : The Robot, Baahubali 1 & 2, RRR, Pushpa, and Sitaramam. For Baahubali, Karky invented Kilikki a new language with 3500 words script and grammar.
Maitreyee B Chowdhury is a poet and writer. She has four books to her credit, The Hungryalists , One Dozen-Hasan Azizul Huq( Trans) , Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen- Bengali Cinema's First Couple and Where Even The Present Is Ancient: Benaras. Maitreyee is the editor of The Bangalore Review- a literary magazine, her work has been vastly anthologised. Her forthcoming work is centered around the eccentric poet genius Binoy Majumdar.
Professor Mamta Sagar is a poet, a transdisciplinary artist, writer, academic and translator from Bengaluru. Her writings focus on identity politics, feminism, issues around linguistic and cultural diversities.
She has six collections of poems, four plays, an anthology of column writing, a collection of critical essays. Beyond Barriers: Slovenian-Kannada Literature Interactions (Translation) edited by Dr Sagar is published by Centre for Slovenian Literature, Ljubljana 2011. She has a set of three poetry films and a book of collaborative poetry activities titled as INTERVERSIONS (2018). Her translation of Elif Shafak’s ‘Forty Rules of Love’ into Kannada (2017) was conferred with Bhasha Bharathi Translation award. She is conferred with the ‘The World Literary Prize’ (2024), a prestigious international award. She has been the Charles Wallace Fellow at the University of East Anglia, Norwich UK (2015). She is involved with international poetry translation projects. Art-Poetry installation project developed and co-curated by Mamta was exhibited at the Piccolo Museo della Poesia, Italy (2020). On an yearlong IFA project (2022-23), she has documented the city of Bengaluru through poetry. Mamta curates Kaavya Sanje, a community poetry engagement since 2013. Dr. Sagar has presented her poems and facilitated poetry and translation workshops in the UK, USA, Europe, African, Asian and Latin American countries. She has represented India in several International poetry and literature festivals.
Her doctoral work is in Comparative Literature from Hyderabad Central University and the thesis is titled as “Gender, Patriarchy and Resistance: Contemporary Women’s Poetry in Kannada and Hindi (1980-2000)”. Dr Mamta Sagar has worked with Hyderabad Central University and Bangalore University where she has taught Comparative Literature, Translation Studies, Kannada Literature, Feminism, Postcolonial and Cultural Studies. Presently, Professor Sagar facilitates Creative Writing, Translation Studies at the Contemporary Art Practice programme of the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru.
Ms. Manisha Patil is a psychologist, educator, and multilingual writer committed to exploring the intersections of psychological science, human well-being, and social context. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru. She holds M.Phil and M.Sc. in Psychology. An M.A. in English which contributes to interdisciplinary engagement with psychology, language, and human behaviour. Her academic interests include job crafting, organizational behaviour, adolescent development, social psychology.
Beyond the classroom and conference halls, Manisha is also a passionate literary artist. She writes poems, ghazals, and short stories in Kannada, capturing the emotional textures of everyday life with nuance and grace. Her work reflects a deep engagement with both modern psychology and native cultural expressions. As a skilled translator, she brings global ideas into Kannada with authenticity. ‘Being Good, Doing Good’ marks her debut as a non-fiction author, Yourquote has published her poems as a tiny handbook named ‘Prema Mrutyu’ on her pen name LaMort.
Neeraj Pandey is a screenwriter and lyricist working in Hindi Film Industry. He is the name behind the songs of films like Mrs., Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi, Kaamyaab, Moothon, and the dialogues of the critically acclaimed anthology Tryst With Destiny and the film Kacchey Limbu. He is also the co-writer of the popular web series Your Honor (Season&nsb;2) and the Netflix series Hasmukh.
Neeraj’s first novel, Door Aasmaan Mein…, was released in 2023, and he is awaiting the release of his next novel this year.
Born and brought up in Jamshedpur, Parmanand is a teacher, sculptor and poet. He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Sculpture from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh; and completed his Master’s from BHU’s Department of Sculpture. He was honoured with the National Scholarship by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Since 2011, Parmanand has been serving as an Art Teacher for Kendriya Vidyalaya; currently posted at its Jalahalli (West) campus. A well known Hindi poet, Parmanand’s poems have appeared in several newspapers, literary journals and websites
Parvathy Baul is a practitioner, performer and teacher of the Baul tradition from Bengal, India.
She studied closely with two of the most respected Baul Gurus of the previous generation, Sri Sanatan Das Thakur Baul and Sri Shashanko Goshai.
According to her Guru's vision, Parvathy Maa has created Sanatan Siddhashram - as a place of learning, practicing and preserving the oral history of the Baul tradition.
Sandhya Mridul was born in Jaipur and later moved to New Delhi. She arrived in Mumbai years ago and after a successful stint in the corporate world found her true calling as an actress, since then she has enthralled audiences with her pivotal performances, dancing skills, vivacity and honesty while making her mark in every medium– be it television, film, theater or live performances. She quickly became wildly popular on the small screen with her performances in serials like Swabhimaan, Banegi Apni Baat, Koshish and Hu Ba Hu.
She made her breakthrough in films with Yash Raj Films, in Saathiya in 2002. The film was critically and commercially successful and critics appreciated her performance. She has also been judged the runner-up at the popular dance show Jhalak Dhiklaa Jaa (season 2, 2007). In 2004, she acted in Pratap Sharma's "Zen Katha", a play based on the life of Buddha in Mumbai opposite Rajeev Gopalkrishnan. She starred with Mahesh Manjrekar in Double Deal directed by Mahesh Dattani, a play that is an adaptation of Richard Stockwell’s “A Killing Time”. Double Deal garnered immense success and acclaim both in India and abroad.
Santosh Bakaya,Ph D, Winner of International Reuel Award for literature -Oh Hark, 2014, The Universal Inspirational Poet Award [Pentasi B Friendship Poetry and Ghana Government, 2016,] Bharat Nirman Award for literary Excellence, 2017, Setu Award, 2018, [Pittsburgh, USA] for ‘stellar contribution to world literature.’ Keshav Malik Award, 2019, for ‘staggeringly prolific and quality conscious oeuvre’.Chankaya Award [Best Poet of the Year, 2022, Public Relations Council of India,], Eunice Dsouza Award 2023, for ‘rich and diverse contribution to poetry, literature and learning’, [WE Literary Community], poet, biographer, novelist, essayist, TEDx speaker has written thirty books across different genres; ten of which are books of poetry, including the internationally acclaimed poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Ballad of Bapu. [Vitasta, 2015]
Her TEDxTalk on The Myth of Writers' Block is popular in creative writing classes. Trigger that creative Spark, her fortnightly column in Kashmir Pen has a huge readership. So has her podcast, Sunday Sips of Kehwa in Kashmir Pen.
Her latest book of Poetry, At Thirty Minutes Past One, will soon go to the press.
Dr. Shobha Nayak, a recipient of six gold medals in recognition of her top honors in post-graduation, holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees. She is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Rani Channamma University, Belagavi, Karnataka.
Her literary contributions to Kannada literature include acclaimed works such as Khwabid Hasina, Mouna Charite, Shayyagruhada Suddigalu, Octovia Paz Poems, Gadinada Sahitya Bimba, and Atma Vruttanata. In 2019, she was invited by the Government of Punjab to recite a poem at the Sarv Bharati Kavi Darbar in Gurdaspur. She has also participated in prominent events like the Poetry Carnival 2020 in Kerala, PAMPA Literature Festival 2021, Sangam World Poetry Confluence 2022, World Kannada Meet, Institute Menezes Braganza Goa, Tunga Mahotsav, Kittur Utsav, Belagavi Sahitya Sammelan, Uttara Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Chalukya Utsav Badami, and Dasara Utsav Mysuru, among many others.
An artist and speaker, she has presented painting exhibitions, delivered speeches, and participated in various cultural events. Passionate about art and literature, Dr. Nayak has received prestigious awards, including the Sankramana Kavya Puraskar, Karnataka Government Yuva Barahagara Puraskara, Gavisiddha Kavya Prashasti, Karanta Sahitya Ratna, G.S. Shivarudrappa Kavya Bahumana, and Kannada Sahitya Parishat Datti Bahumana. Her poems, translated into English, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, and other Indian languages, continue to enrich the literary world.
Shrabonti Bagchi writes on art, culture and society for Mint.
Siddhartha Gigoo won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Asia) for his short story ‘The Umbrella Man'. He has also written a short-story collection, A Fistful of Earth and Other Stories, which was long-listed for the 2015 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. His short stories have been long-listed for the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. He has also co-edited two anthologies, A Long Dream of Home: The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits and Once We Had Everything: Literature in Exile. He has written two books of poetry—Fall and Other Poems and Reflections, four novels—The Garden of Solitude, Mehr: A Love Story, The Lion of Kashmir and Love in the Time of Quarantine, and a memoir, A Long Season of Ashes. Siddhartha’s short films, The Last Day and Goodbye, Mayfly, have won several awards at international film festivals. His writings have also appeared in various literary journals.
Siddhartha's represents his father, Arvind Gigoo, whose interpretation of the 14th century Kashmiri saint-poet Lal Ded's poetry is published by OmBooks International.
Sikkil Gurucharan is a leading musician and a youth ambassador for Carnatic music. A prime time artist during the Chennai music season and a recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award, Kalaimamani, Shanmukha Sironmani, a TOP grade recognition from All India Radio among many, Gurucharan has not only made a mark in the traditional concert paddhati style but also worked to broaden audience appeal by creating collaborative projects with world renowned musicians while retaining the spirit of the art form. In 2015, Gurucharan received a Nehru-Fulbright Excellence Award, and was in residence at UC Davis between January and April 2015.
The album “Miles from India”, a collaborative effort, was nominated for the Best Contemporary Jazz Album at the 51st Grammy Awards. The magazine India Today featured him among 35 Game Changers under the age of 35 in India. The Tamil Nadu Government conferred its highest honour of Kalaimamani on Gurucharan in 2020. He has also been part of two feature films Sarvam Thaala Mayam and Putham Pudhu Kaalai.
Smitha Sehgal is a poet and legal professional based in NCR - New Delhi. A law graduate and alumna of Govt Law College, Calicut, she is also a gold medallist in LLM ( Corporate Laws). Her poems have been widely featured in Indian and international publications. Her poems resonate and reflect the voices of women and seascapes of Malabar, her native place in Kerala. 'How Women Become Poems in Malabar' ( Red River Press, 2023) is her debut collection of poetry, which was adjudged First Runner-Up, The Wise Owl Literary Awards 2025 ( Poetry Category). She was chosen as ‘Featured Poet’ for the Erbacce Poetry Prize, UK (2025) for her collection ‘Brown God’s Child and other poems’. She was nominated for the distinguished Best of the Net Awards thrice in 2023 and has been part of the Sahitya Akademi Festival of Letters-2025. She is a review committee member for the Yearbook of Indian Poetry, 2024.
Smitha is currently serving as DGM-Legal, Engineers India Limited, under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India. Her forte is laws on gender justice, arbitration and negotiation of cross-border transactions of strategic importance in multiple jurisdictions. A nominated Member of the Governing Body of SCOPE Forum of Conciliation and Arbitration, she is also associated with capacity-building programmes on legal nuances of contract management. She is associated as a faculty on ‘Laws on Gender Justice’ for the capacity building programme extended by India to the developing countries through the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, in collaboration with Engineers India Limited.
Suman Sridhar is a singer and multi-award winner from Mumbai / New Jersey. As the voice behind Bollywood Jazz, she has sung chart topping film songs such as Muskaane Jhooti Hain (Talaash, 2012), Khoya Khoya Chand (Shaitan, 2011), Fifi (Bombay Velvet, 2015) and is recognized by Rolling Stone magazine for redefining indie music in India. As composer and founder of The Black Mamba project, she fuses jazz, Indian classical, opera, spoken word and afrobeat in her performances. Evoking the metaphor of the ‘black mamba’, Suman transmutes poison into medicine through sound. With her band, Suman sings across languages English/Hindi/ Punjabi/French/Spanish/Tamil. Her latest album The Black Mamba album had a world preview at the Tate Modern Museum, London. She was one half of the literary music duo Sridhar/Thayil and released the Album STD (2012). Suman works at the intersection of performance, music, film, visual art and poetry. Her multi-disciplinary art practice has shown internationally across galleries, festivals and venues.
Suman's noted performances include Berlin Biennale 11 (Germany), Coke Studio MTV India, BBC- World Service (UK), Echoes of Earth Festival (India), NH7 Weekender (India), Our Lives to Live Film Festival curated by International Association of Women in Radio and Television, Kochi Muziris Biennale (India), 20th Contemporary Arts Festival, VideoBrasil_Sesc (Brazil), Discourses '25: Poetic Trails, Radio Mirchi Music Awards (India), International Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands), Jazzmandu (Nepal), One Billion Rising (India), Poetry with Prakriti Festival (India), National Centre for Performing Arts (India), Prithvi Theatre Festival (India), Mijwan Fashion Show (India). She is co-producer / music director of Land of The Breasted Woman , a live cinema project and lead actor / music director of Ajeeb Aashiq / Strange Love , a feature film which screened internationally across festivals. Her work has been part of art exhibitions such as Three Questions At Once (Art and Charlie, Mumbai), Transformation 19124 (Philadelphia), Sarai Reader 09 (New Delhi), What Happened 2081? (Germany) and artist residencies at Wexner Center for the Arts (USA) and HH Art Spaces (Goa).
Suman's genre-bending work has received awards and nominations including the Google-Ink Trailblazer’s Grant, Best Female Playback Singer-Times of India Film Awards, Jury Prize at Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, Best Female Indie Artist- MTV Video Music Awards India. Her work explores identity, gender, globalisation and ecological change. She holds a degree in Music, Visual Art and Women's & Gender Studies from Rutgers University, USA.
Swanand Kirkire is an award-winning screenwriter, actor, and lyricist known for iconic songs in films like Parineeta, Masaan, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai. His lyrics for Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh and Bande Me Tha Dum earned him two National Awards. From a family of classical musicians, Kirkire has built a celebrated career as both a playback singer and lyricist over the past two decades.
