Authors

Abhijit Chaudhury / অভিজিৎ চৌধুরী

ঔপন্যাসিক, গল্পকার তথা কবি অভিজিৎ চৌধুরীর জন্ম ১ সেপ্টেম্বর ১৯৬৩। শৈশবের শুরু মধ্যকলকাতার সূর্য সেন স্ট্রিটে। সকাল সকাল রামধানের ছাগলগুলির ঘণ্টা, বেলায় রুবি প্রিন্টার্সের প্রেসের ঘটাং-ঘটাং , দুপুরে মাটি চাই গো, মাটি–ফেরিওয়ালাদের হাঁক। কাঁপা বুড়িও আসত। সেই ভিখিরি-মাকে নিয়ে বালকের ছিল যুগপৎ ভয় ও ভালোবাসা । আসত বসিরহাট থেকে মনখুশি ইলিশমাছের গন্ধ নিয়ে। জাদুকর , বিপ্লবী , চলচ্চিত্র-পরিচালক , দেহোপজীবিকায় নামতে বাধ্য হওয়া এক মহিলার মাতৃমূর্তিও শিশুর হৃদয়ে আবছা হতে হতে কৈশোরে রোদ্দুরের ওম লাগল । বালকবেলা জুড়ে ছিল সচিত্র রামায়ণ-মহাভারত আর মা-ঠাকুরমার মুখে রাতের ঘন অন্ধকারে পরিদের আশ্চর্য যাতায়াতের জগৎ। তারপর সাত বছরের বালক পরিবারের সকলের সঙ্গে চলে গ্রামের গন্ধমাখা কোন্নগর শিল্পাঞ্চলে। সেখানে সবুজের ছোঁয়ায় সঙ্গে রইল শীতের কুয়াশার রাতে কারখানার সাইরেন।অনির্বচনীয় জগতের রূপ-রস-গন্ধে ডুবে থাকতে থাকতে বালক যুবক হল । নির্মাণ হল শহরের সঙ্গে আশ্চর্য প্রেমের সেতুর । সাহিত্যপ্রীতি ঋদ্ধ হল যখন ইংরেজি সাহিত্যে স্নাতকোত্তর সম্পৃর্ণ হল। রেলের চাকরি ছেড়ে ডব্লিউবিসিএস (এক্সিকিউটিভ) ক্যাডারে যোগদান তাঁর সাহিত্যজীবনের মোড় ঘুরিয়ে দেয়। বদলির চাকরির সুবাদে নিত্যনতুন মানুষ ও প্রকৃতির সাহচর্যে তাঁর কথাসাহিত্যের জাদুবাস্তব প্রাণময় হয়ে ওঠে আর তিনি নিজে হয়ে ওঠেন এক বিরলকথাপুরুষ। মূলত উপন্যাসিক হলেও লিখেছেন অসংখ্য গল্প, কবিতাও। প্রকাশিত গ্রন্থের সংখ্যা কুড়ির কম নয়। ‘সমাগত মধুমাস’ উপন্যাসের হয়েছেন মদনমোহন তর্কালঙ্কার স্মারক সম্মাননায় সম্মানিত। অন্যান্য পুরস্কার  ও সম্মাননার মধ্যে উল্লেখযোগ্য: ১  তারা বাংলা আন্তর্জাতিক সাহিত্য পুরস্কার, ২০২০ ২  নীরেন্দ্রনাথ চক্রবর্তী স্মৃতি পুরস্কার ২০২০ ৩  ইন্ডিয়ান রেড ক্রস সোসাইটি প্রদত্ত ‘দ্য মেন অব লেটারস অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ , ২০১৭ ৪  সংবাদ প্রতিদিন মিলেনিয়াম অ্যাওয়ার্ড, ২০০০ Novelist and short story writer Abhijit Chaudhuri was born on 1 September 1963 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. His place of birth, a rented house at 26/6 Surya Sen Street, was very close to College Street, the cultural capital of the-then Bengal and, to some extent, India. The dark and gloomy lanes— buzzing with the mechanized clatter of the traditional printing press— where little Abhijit grew were the dwelling place for the lower middle class of the Bengali society but love and hope prevailed even in the most frustrating  of human conditions fighting with abject poverty. Fairy tales and folklores of the traditional Bengal mingled with the magnificent heroic sagas from the two great epics, The Ramayana and The Mahabharata, were in the air as well as in the lips of grandmother and mother, the two women who greatly influenced the boy in shaping his dreams and his imaginations. However, the surreal ambience of the central Kolkata, its long afternoons, its dreamy evenings submerged in the fragrance of autumnal flowers and Mughal cuisine had its share in grooming the boy for a bigger, grander, more exotic world.  The intricate lanes, bye-lanes and alleys introduced the boy to a magical adult world whose inhabitants were beggars, magicians, revolutionaries and even prostitutes. When Abhijit was just six years old the entire family got shifted to Konnagar, Hooghly. It was there that he received his formal education. Seeds of creative writing were woven in the boy’s mind by some of the charismatic teachers in high school who encouraged the boy to become a writer in future.  Life suddenly became less cruel and more in harmony with the uncomplicated suburban friends and the lush greenery of the beautiful countryside just outside the industrial town that kept its time with the blowing sirens of the factories Abhijit returned to the metropolis to do his graduation (1983) and post graduation in English Literature (1985) and subsequently to receive a post graduate diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations. (1991-1992) Mr. Chaudhuri began his professional career with the Indian Railways in 1988 only to leave the job next year in order to join the prestigious West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) as a Probationary Officer. This was the turning point of Abhijit’s life. He began to enjoy his profession as a Block Development Officer: meeting people from all walks of life, getting frequently transferred to new places, accommodating with changing topographies, being introduced to different obscurities, oddities and crises. The resultant experience soon started to produce novels and short stories of rare merit. Although Abhijit’s first published work was Shobdo Theke Mukto Jharuk (‘Let Pearls Drop from the Words’), a book of poems back in 1986, the young author soon realized that fiction was his forte and thus began an uninterrupted flow of writing producing  not less than twenty volumes of novels and short stories. His fiction is both popular and critically acclaimed. Chaudhuri was felicitated with the prestigious Madanmohan Tarkalankar Memorial Felicitation in 2017 for his novel Samagata Madhumas. Other notable awards and felicitations include: Tara Bangla International Literary Award (for Lifetime Contribution to Bengali Fiction) in 2020. Nirendranath Chakraborty Memorial Award (for Young Adult Fiction) in 2020 Indian Red Cross Society’s ‘The Men of Letters Award’ (for Contribution to Bengali Literature) in 2017 Sangbad Pratidin Millennium Award (for Essay Writing on the Partition of Bengal) in 2000

Akash Dutta

Poet, playwright, lyricist cum recitation artist, Akash Dutta (born 17 September 1983) hails from Krishnanagar, a heritage place renowned for quintessential Bengali art, literature and culture. Founder of Kalaswar, a centre for Bengali recitation, Akash has also founded Kalaswargatha, another centre for experimenting with the art of recitation. He has released a number of recitation albums including Biddhwa Karo Ishane, Krishnakalike Premer Kabita and Pradakshin. With Susmita, a vocal artist, he has cut albums fusing songs and recitations including Jalangi Janapader Kabi and Swaruper Ektara. Aloukik Asukh was his first book of poems. Akash is the writer-director of a number of recitation-dramas including Subhra Agun, Mutho Jaler Mandas, Nonajaler Karonga. He has also written lyrics for many postmodern Bengali songs. In 2018 Akash was conferred with the prestigious Niladrisekhar Basu Memorial Award (for his innovative approach to the art of recitation as a young recitation artist) by Paschimbanga Kabita Academy.

Biman Saha

Poet, short story writer and novelist, Biman Saha was born in a poor middle class family in Kolkata in 1951. His ancestral house was at Mirpur, Dhaka, in an undivided Bengal, now in Bangladesh. Displaced from their motherland just before independence, the entire Saha family settled in Calcutta. Mr Saha’s parents struggled hard to set up their family at a new place leaving behind everything they possessed. Biman was brought up in poverty, scarcity and a perpetual struggle for survival. However, he was a bright scholar. He received a B.Com degree from the University of Calcutta in 1972. He also attended the Law College to attain an LLB degree subsequently. In his early childhood, Biman never wanted to go to school. He still remembers his first day at school: he burst into tears and wanted to get out of the place immediately. This antipathy to formal education and institutions remained with him till his last day at college. After graduation Biman got a government job as a trainee Development Officer at Jhargram, West Bengal. He was responsible for educating the adult, cleaning of the local hospital, and community market, teaching of young boys and girls, etc. He enjoyed his work. After a year he joined the Indian Railways. During his tenure there he cleared both the All India Railway Audit Service and Intermediate ICWA. During his days in the Railways, Biman found his true calling. He started doing some creative work, which had been his lifelong desire. He started writing poems and short stories, performing in amateur theatre productions, publishing a little magazine and participating in every literary and cultural event carried out by the cultural wing of the Railways. It was at this time that Biman, along with some friends began publishing a little magazine titled Rabindranath. Soon Bhasha Binyas, a publishing house, was founded by them to promote progressive and experimental literature. This period is significant because it allowed Biman to introspect and meditate. All he was looking for was the ultimate truth of human life. Along with some friends, he started studying about the philosophy of life. They discussed the major works of some great thinkers, writers and artists including Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Einstein and Charlie Chaplin to comprehend the nature of their idiosyncratic ways of arriving at the truth. Soon Biman’s love for and devotion to the immortal works of Rabindranath Tagore overshadowed his admiration of all other titans. He was with the Indian Railways for more than ten years since 1978. In 1988 he joined a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways and continued therein till his retirement. During his service in the PSU he had been posted in Bangladesh for six and half years (1989-1995). His upcoming novel is about Bangladesh. There he has tried to portray the country’s beautiful nature, the simple poor people, their hospitality and the impact of socio economic conditions on their daily life. Mr. Saha is attached with Bhalopahar, an NGO, at Purulia Bandwan, West Bengal. He is also one of the executive body members of the prestigious New Town Book Fair at New Town. This is the second largest book fair in West Bengal after the renowned Kolkata International Book Fair. Alone on the Aisle first published by RIK PRAKASHANI in Calcutta, is his fourth title. He has already added two collections of short stories and a book of poems (Praner Opare, Beyond Life published by RIK PRAKASHANI in 2019) in his kitty. At present, he is a practising lawyer at Calcutta High Court.

David Napoliello

David Napoliello is a freelance writer, author of several published works, and a reviewer of military history journal articles and books. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, earning a Bachelor of Science in business administration and election into Beta Gamma Sigma business honorary.  He received graduate degrees from the University of Utah, Regina University, and the Naval War College (With Honors).  He is also a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University, the Army War College, the Naval War College (With Honors), the Army Command and General Staff College (With Distinction), and the Armed Forces Staff College (With Distinction). Colonel Napoliello served 28 years in the United States Army with key assignments, including Senior Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Project Manager for the Army’s $22 billion Advanced Field Artillery System programs, multiple field artillery cannon, and missile battalion and battery command assignments, and field artillery, comptroller and financial management staff assignments at Battalion, Division Artillery, Division, Installation, Corps, and Department of the Army, and Department of Defense levels. He also was an Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Creighton University, teaching military science and American military history. Col  Napoliello has Army and Joint experience in the operational aspects of cannon, rocket, and missile fire support, including combat and United Nations peacekeeping operations.  His overseas assignments include Vietnam, Germany, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.  His military awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, multiple awards of the Legion of Merit, and numerous other combat, achievement, and service awards. He was twice cited in dispatches to the United Nations Security Council for his actions with the UN Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, supporting the UN Emergency Force. Upon retirement, he was Vice President for Army Programs and for Washington Operations United Defense, LP. Col Napoliello was Vice President for Global Strategy of BAE Systems Land & Armaments Operating Group. Mr. Napoliello was a member of the Board of Directors of the Children and Family Network Centers, a member of the Bank of America Customer Advisory Board, and a member of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund Education Center Campaign Leadership and the Virginia State Committee of the Education Center at the Wall Campaign. Following his time in the defense industry, Col Napoliello volunteered with and worked for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund serving as Vice President for Development and Senior Vice President for Organizational Advancement. Throughout his career and wherever he was assigned, he volunteered in his local Catholic Diocese and church, scouting and youth organizations, and other community charities. He is a recipient of the Boy Scouts of America Saint George’s Medal, the Ancient Order of Saint Barbara, and the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara from the U.S. Field Artillery Association. David and his wife, Sharon, have two children and five grandchildren.

Ernest Thompson

Ernest Thompson’s work has won an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, Writers Guild and Broadway Drama Guild Awards and been nominated for a Tony, an Emmy and a British Academy Award. His plays have been seen in theatres around the world, his most enduring, On Golden Pond, translated into 30 languages and presented in more than 40 countries. Current projects include the film sequel to On Golden Pond, the plays Some Parts Missing and Ask/Answer and the novel Out Clause coming in 2023. With his writer wife Kerrin Thompson, he established Rescind Recidivism, a prison writing program giving inmates a chance to feel creative as well as human, capable and worthy.

Henry Yampolsky, J.D.

Henry Yampolsky is a mediator, educator, TEDx speaker, yogi and lawyer who serves as the Assistant Director for Education, Outreach, and Conflict Resolution at Virginia Tech’s Office for Equity and Accessibility. He also teaches Mediation, Conflict Resolution, and Peace Building as part of Virginia Tech’s Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention. Henry is a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Mediation Network and is a member of Mediators Beyond Borders International. Henry has worked with hundreds of complex conflicts and has taught and lectured around the world, including at: Virginia Tech, Columbia University School of Law, National Museum of American Jewish History, Bellevue Mediation in Zurich, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samidi (International Gandhi Center and Museum) in New Delhi and at the Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, India. Henry is also a master-level instructor of Sattva Yoga, having studied yoga in Rishikesh, India.  Henry’s TEDx talk about what crossing the Himalayas on a motorcycle taught him about conflict, connection, and dialogue is available on TED.com. You can find Henry on his motorcycle in the mountains of Southwest Virginia and also at: www.livingpeaceinstitute.com.

Jesal Kanani

Jesal Kanani holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her haiku has been published as an honorable mention in the World Haiku Review and her fiction has been published in The Missouri Review and also nominated for the Best New American Voices 2005 anthology by Harcourt Brace. Her Instagram account @jesalwrites has a lively following of over 56,000, and counting with readers reaching out to write to her every single day. In her past life, she worked in marketing after an MBA from NMIMS and ran Mumbai half marathons. She is the mother of two beautiful daughters and lives with her family in Thane, near Mumbai. She also studies and sings Hindustani classical music.

Madhumita Roy

Born on 2 April 1972, Madhumita Roy received her post-graduation degree in Bengali literature and language from the University of Calcutta. A teacher by profession, Roy has three published volumes of poetry to her credit. A music enthusiast, Madhumita loves to travel and has a deep interest rooted in painting.

Maryann Cusimano Love

Maryann Cusimano Love is a New York Times best selling author and educator, teaching civil rights and peacebuilding for over 25 years in Washington, DC. Her “You Are My I Love You” books began with her work with the PeaceKids group in the Sursum Corda housing project. Dr. Love lives on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband, Rich, and their three children, Maria, Ricky, and Ava. You can visit Maryann Love at www.maryannlove.com

Mayukh Chakraborty

Mayukh Chakraborty (1975–) did his post-graduate studies at the University of Calcutta. A teacher by profession, his passion is publishing. Till date he has edited a number of books including Tagore’s Gitanjali: Song Offerings (with Subhankar Bhattacharyya), an edition highly praised by William Radice. He is also the co-author of a Bengali short story collection, Bhabhishyat (The Future). He juggles his interests between watching movies and listening to audio books.

Nirmalya Mukhopadhyay

Nirmalya Mukhopadhyay is a poet and writer from West Bengal, India.

Rana Bitar, M.D.

Rana Bitar was born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She immigrated to the United States after graduating from Aleppo University School of Medicine in 1990. Rana completed her internal medicine training in 1995 at Monmouth Medical Center in NJ; and her subspecialty training in hematology and oncology in 1998 at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC. She is currently in private practice in Upstate New York where she lives with her husband, Joseph and two children, Jad and Enana. In addition to her medical practice, she is a published writer and poet. In January 2017, she earned her Master’s Degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Her poetry has appeared in  The Deadly Writers Patrol journal,  DoveTales journal,  Earthen Lamp Journal,  Pittsburgh Poetry Review,  Magnolia Review, and  El Portal journal. Her Poetry chapbook  A Loaf Of Bread was published by  Unsolicited Press, January 2019. Rana writes in both English and Arabic. She has spoken at several conferences and workshops. Rana has read in both, poetry houses settings, cafes and university settings. Some of the places she’s read at are: Colombia Presbyterian Medical Center, Rooklyn International Football Association, Nuyorican Poet Café and Rayan’s daughter in NYC, Collar Works Gallery for Article 13 Project in Troy, NY, Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus in Albany, NY, and Burlington and Montpelier in Vermont. www.ranabitar.com

Rik Bhattacharyya

Rik Bhattacharyya (born 24 november, 2002) wrote this novel when he was in his ninth grade. A former Cultural Coordinator of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Kolkata, Rik was trained in acting from the age of five and he has performed in numerous plays, short films and ad films. Watching films, reading fiction and singing are his passion. His favourite authors are Satyajit Ray and Stephen King. His favourite musicians and bands include Elvis Presley, Radwimps, GNR, Charlie Puth, Toru Kitajima and Vishal Bhardwaj.  Rik regularly contributes short stories and poems to leading children’s magazines including Dinginouko and Alor Fulki. He is the recipeent of the prestigious Alor Fulki Sammanana 2017 for fiction awarded by Nikhil Bharat Shishusahitya Samsad, Kolkata.

Taslima Nasrin

Taslima Nasrin is a Bangladeshi writer, feminist, secular humanist, and human rights activist. Most famous for her feminist writings, Nasrin has been living in exile since 1994, when she was expelled from Bangladesh for the publication of Shame (Lajja) which was critical of Islam. Her works include My Bengali Girlhood, All About Women, Fallen Prose of A Fallen Girl, The Opponent, Tell Him The Secret, Shame Again, and Getting Even. Nasrin has been the recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, the Simone de Beauvoir Prize, and an honorary doctorate from the American University of Paris, among many other important recognitions.

Thomas Richards

Thomas Richards was raised mostly in Minnesota. He went to Carleton College, the University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University. He taught literature at Harvard for many years, and won a Guggenheim fellowship. He then moved to Hong Kong, where he lived for eleven years, receiving a degree in the Geological Sciences from the University of Hong Kong, going on many geological expeditions in Asia and Europe. He moved back to the United States in 2011 He lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two daughters, both adopted from China. He has written five other books. One novel, Zero Tolerance (FSG). Three cultural studies: The Commodity Culture of Victorian England (Stanford and Verso), The Imperial Archive (Verso), and The Meaning of Star Trek (Doubleday). And one on higher education: Admit One (Johns Hopkins).

Vivek Tejuja

Vivek Tejuja loves food and cats, and wants nothing more than to swim in a sea of books. An accidental writer, he cherishes solitude and wishes that there was more time to read, and write. He is the Culture Editor at Verve Magazine. A Mumbai boy through and through, the sea is an inseparable part of Vivek’s existence; so are men.

Zarrar Said

Zarrar Said was born in Lahore and spent his childhood between Dubai, Lahore and the US. He has an undergraduate degree in business from The Ohio State University and a graduate degree in quantitative finance from George Washington University. Zarrar’s debut novel, Pureland, is a fictionalized narrative based on the tragic life of Dr. Abdus Salam, a Nobel prize winning physicist who was excommunicated by the country of his birth and who spent his entire adult life in exile due to his religious affiliations. Dr. Salam’s achievements in science and his remarkable story was then eradicated from his country’s educational curriculum. Pureland is the retelling of that tragedy in the form of a love story told through magical realism. Pureland embodies themes of lost homelands, class discrimination and dogmatic politics. Zarrar believes that societies suffer from the prejudices they keep. Pureland itself became one such story, with bookstores in South Asia deeming it too controversial to sell. Zarrar currently lives and works in New York City.