Joginder Paul (1925-2016) was a highly renowned and award-winning writer of Urdu fiction. A writer of both short stories and novels, Paul was an important figure in the Progressive Writers’ Movement, and his work has garnered praise and popularity in the realm of Urdu literature. Ek Boond Lahoo Ki (published in Penguin Classics as A Drop of Blood) was his first novel and remains one of his most significant works.
Snehal Shingavi is associate professor of English at the University of Texas, Austin, and the author of The Mahatma Misunderstood: The Politics and Forms of Literary Nationalism in India (Anthem Books, 2013). He has also translated Munshi Premchand’s Hindi novel Sevasadan (Oxford, 2005), the Urdu short-story collection Angaaray (Penguin, 2014), Bhisham Sahni’s autobiography, Today’s Pasts (Penguin, 2015) and Agyeya’s Shekhar: A Life (Penguin, 2017; co-translated with Vasudha Dalmia). He has also published widely in places like GQ India, the International Socialist Review, Postcolonial Text, South Asia and the Annual of Urdu Studies.
Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a journalist who has extensively covered politics and elections for the print and television media in India and the United States, and has reported from the White House Parliament House. From netas in India to senators in America, he has seen them up close and political. His work has appeared in publications including the Hindustan Times, the Pioneer, Outlook, and news channels CNN-IBN,CNBC- TV18 and NewsX. Formerly based in New Delhi and New York, he currently lives with his wife in Toronto.
Rakshita Swamy is with the Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research. She has worked with civil society organizations, peoples’ campaigns, movements and government departments to learn, embrace and advocate for improved transparency, accountability and citizen participation in different intersections of state and society. She is associated with the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information and the Right to Work Campaign since 2010. She has a master’s in social policy and development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Aruna Roy is a sociopolitical activist and the founder member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghathan (MKSS), National Campaign to People’s Right to Information, and the School for Democracy (SFD). She was with the IAS from 1968-75. She was a member of the National Advisory Council from 2004-06 and 2010-13. She is president of the National Federation of Indian Women. Her list of honours include the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Nani Palkiwala Award and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award. She was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine for 2011.
Nikhil Dey is one of the founding members of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and has been a full-time worker there since 1990. He has been involved in the struggles of the poor for justice and in the organization’s larger campaigns, most notably for the Right to Information and the Right to Work (MGNREGA).
Aruna Roy is a sociopolitical activist and a founder member of the MKSS, the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, and the School for Democracy. She is president of the National Federation of Indian Women. Her list of honours includes the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Nani Palkhivala Award and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award.
Rakshita Swamy is with the Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research. She has worked with civil society organizations, peoples’ campaigns, movements and government departments to learn, embrace and advocate for improved transparency, accountability and citizen participation. She has been associated with the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information and the Right to Work Campaign since 2010.
Zara Houshmand is an Iranian American writer, editor, and literary translator whose work uses empathy to bridge cultural divides. She lives in the mountains of California.
The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is an innovative thinker, philosopher, educator, and a polymath monk. He is the President and CEO of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Lesley D. Biswas grew up in McCluskiegunj, and dreamed of playing cricket. But instead of a bat, she ended up with a pen in her hand. Currently based in Kolkata, she’s a freelance writer who enjoys writing children’s stories the most. She’s also passionate about nature, gardening and bird photography.
Author Bio:
Wonderfully funny characters get into wacky adventures in Asha Nehemiah’s stories. Her books for children include The Grand Chapati Contest, Wet Paint, Trouble with Magic, Granny’s Sari, The Adventures of Mooli series and The Mystery of the Secret Hair–Oil Formula.
Shals Mahajan has recently realised that publishing is not life-threatening and writing can continue in the hereafter. They are thus pursuing talking to trees and cats in between brief bouts of writing and other necessities. Shals lives in Bombay and looks out at dumper trucks parked under copper pods.
