Mentors 2025
Vinita Agrawal - Poetry Mentor
Vinita Agrawal has authored six books of poetry. Books edited by her include two anthologies on climate change, The Centennial Volume on Nissim Ezekiel - Poet & Father and one on the Kashmiri Poet Ghulam Rasool Nazki.
She is the recipient of the Jayanta Mahapatra National Award for Literature 2024, the Proverse Prize Hongkong 2021, the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2018 and the Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award for Literary Excellence, USA, 2015. Her book Eartha has been long listed for the Sarojini Naidu Award for Poetry 2025. She won a special mention in the Hawkers Prize 2019. Her work was shortlisted for the inaugural Dipankar Khiwani Memorial prize 2021.
She co-edits the Yearbook series of Indian Poetry in English. She was former Poetry Editor with Usawa Literary Review. Her work has been widely published and anthologised. She is on the Advisory Board of the Tagore Literary Prize. She was one of the twenty poets to be featured in a documentary on Asian poets titled Deepest Uprising made in Taiwan. She is a birder and a photographer.
Rochelle Dsilva - Spoken Word Poetry Mentor
Rochelle is a performance poet based in Goa. She writes about her travels, cultural influences and personal experiences. Her poems give voice to feelings of displacement, love and loss. She started performing in 2011, and since then has performed on numerous stages across India, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal.She has been a part of a multitude of literary festivals; Times Lit Fest 2018, Goa Art and Lit Fest 2018, Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival 2018, Kala Ghoda Art and Literature Festival 2018 to name a few. In 2016, she represented the Indian writing community during a poetry tour in Nepal called Words Express – Spoken Word Jatra, featuring international poets from Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and the universally proclaimed Sarah Kay.
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​In addition to her many accolades and achievements, Rochelle has worked hard to give back to the poetry community. She has created the very first residency solely designed for poets - 'The Poetry Retreat' is a 6-day residency in Goa. In 2015, she founded Words Tell Stories, a platform for poets and poetry lovers. She has conducted open mics, slams, workshops and collaborations with international and local artists. She has mentored many of the spoken word poets that have come out of Bombay and helped them hone their skills and/or learn about performance poetry.
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​She gave her first TEDx talk in November 2019. She has three spoken word albums (Road Trips to New Places, A Thin Veneer of Coping and Best Apology Face) and her solo collection of poems, When Home Is An Idea, has been widely appreciated as a conduit to talk about identity and belonging.
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Rochelle is also a trained mental health counsellor and wants to explore the many possibilities of merging poetry and counselling as tools for expression and healing.
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Shaun Williams - Performance Mentor
Shaun Williams draws from his rich 20-year experience in the industry having trained under senior drama professionals such as Prabhat Bhaskaran, Sankar Venkateswaran, and Heisnam Tomba.
He has acted with various theatre companies like QTP and Akvarious productions and has also undergone rigorous training as a teacher under Theatre Professionals Pvt. Ltd. Shaun has a versatile experience as a result of his exposure to diverse traditions.
Whether it is Improv Comedy or Kalaripayattu, Butoh or Clowning, ensemble theatre or physical theatre, they have all shaped his knowledge and expertise in acting as well as teaching.
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OUR PREVIOUS MENTORS:
*Sampurna Chattarji - Poet, Novelist & Translator (Mumbai, India)
*Rochelle Dsilva - Spoken Word Poet (Goa, India)
*Shaun Williams - Performance Coach (Mumbai, India)
*Andy Jackson - Poet & Editor (Melbourne, Australia)
*Zeenia Kolah - Performance Artist (Boston, United States)
*Bhisaji Gadekar - Performance Artist (Goa, India)
*Sumana Roy - Poet & Teacher (Udaipur, India)
*Vinita Agrawal - Poet & Editor (Mumbai, India)
*Ram Ganesh Kamatham - Playwright & Performance Artist (Bangalore, India)
*Menka Shivdasani - Poet & Editor (Mumbai, India)
*Mustansir Dalvi - Poet/Translator/Editor (Mumbai, India)
*Manohar Shetty - Writer/Poet/Editor (Goa, India)
*Rea Burman - Performing Artist (Goa, India)