Workshops & Other Offerings
The current global pandemic has forced us to look outside of the box, or rather into the box. We don't want to stop working with poets just because we can't conduct a residency right now.
So, instead, we are offering a series of weekend workshops through July. They will be like mini poetry retreats and will have the same goal as the residency - to give poets the tools to be confident with their writing and to look at poetry as more than just a hobby.
ABOUT THE MENTORS:
Shaun Williams has been a drama teacher and actor for about 20 years. He is best-known for his work with child actors for Flipkart TV ads.
He has an understanding of Kalaripayattu, Clowning, Improv Comedy and Butoh, which gives him a unique perspective when teaching. He is a high-energy, hands-on performance coach and will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone.
Sumana Roy is the author of How I became a Tree and Missing. Her solo collection of poems, Out of Syllabus was published in 2019. Her short stories have been published in numerous journals in India and overseas.
She was Full Time Visiting Fellow, South Asia Program, Cornell University, and Carson Fellow, Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society, Munich and is now an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Ashoka University, India.
Rochelle is a performance poet based in Goa. Her poems give voice to feelings of displacement, love and loss. She has been a part of numerous literary festivals and has performed on stages across India, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal.
She has two spoken word albums (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. She endorses hugs.
ABOUT THE MENTORS:
Vinita Agrawal - Author of four books of poetry, - Two Full Moons, Words Not Spoken, The Longest Pleasure and The Silk Of Hunger. Vinita is a Mumbai based, award winning poet and writer. She was Senior Editor with Womaninc.com for three years. Recipient of the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2018, She was nominated for the Best of the Net Awards in 2011. She contributed a monthly column on Asian Poets on the literary blog of the Hamline university, Saint Paul, USA in 2016-17. She judged the RLFPA poetry contest (International Prize) in 2016 and co judged the Asian Cha’s poetry contest on The Other Side ‘ in 2015. She has read at the FILEY Book Fair, Merida, Mexico, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Lucknow Literary festival, Cappuccino Readings and Women Empowerment events. She is on the Advisory Board of the Tagore Literary Prize. She co-curates events for PEN Mumbai and has sub curated for the Kala Ghoda Literary Festival. She can be reached at www.vinitawords.com
Ram Ganesh Kamatham - With over two decades of playwriting experience, Ram Ganesh Kamatham’s work has entertained and provoked audiences worldwide with startlingly contemporary themes, bold dramaturgical experimentation and the steadfast pursuit of dramatic truth. His hit comedies include Square Root of Minus One (2002), Dancing on Glass (2004), Project S.T.R.I.P. (2008) and Ultimate Kurukshetra which won him the 2011 Sultan Padamsee Award. He has pioneered the use of ethnographic research methods in playwriting, and has interdisciplinary academic training in the anthropology of media, international relations and strategic studies.
Ram’s early playwriting training was through multiple residencies with the Royal Court Theatre, London. Three systems form the basis of Ram’s physical vocabulary: climbing - with basics from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarakashi, the Japanese system of Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu where he is a 2nd Dan black belt holder, and Kalaripayattu learned from the Hindustan Kalari Sangam, Kozhikode.
Rochelle Dsilva is a performance poet based in Goa. Her poems give voice to feelings of displacement, love and loss. She has been a part of numerous literary festivals and has performed on stages across India, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal.
She has two spoken word albums (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. She endorses hugs.