Darkness There But Something More

A die-hard believer in Martin Luther King Jr’s  Dream and John Lennon’s Imagine, award-winning poet, academic, essayist, novelist, biographer, TEDx Speaker, and creative writing mentor, Santosh Bakaya, Ph.D., has been critically acclaimed for her poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, [Ballad of Bapu] and Only in Darkness can you see the Stars[ Biography of Martin Luther King Jr]

Her TEDx on The Myth of Writer's Block is very popular in creative writing Circles.

Refusing to be intimidated by any mythical Writer’s Block, she has written twenty- four books across many genres. Her poems and short stories have appeared in anthologies worldwide, her poems have been translated into many languages, and she has also edited many critically acclaimed anthologies.

She writes a weekly column, Morning Meanderings in Learning and Creativity. Com.

She has been on the Jury of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize for two successive years, 2020 and 2021

She justifies that streak of madness in her by holding on to the renowned filmmaker, Akira Kurosowa’s words, “In a mad world only the mad are sane” and Robin Williams’ quote, “You’re only given a spark of madness and if you lose that, you‘re nothing. Don’t ever lose that ‘cause it keeps you alive” So, she spends most of her time trying to keep that spark of insanity in her, alive by wreaking havoc on paper.

Her writings have appeared in Galaktika Poetike “Atunis”, Café Dissensus, Different Truths, Fasiihi Magazine, Glomag, Learning, and Creativity. Com. Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Kashmir Newsline, Kashmir Pen, Narrow Road, Poets in Nigeria, [PIN], Our Poetry Archive, Pangolin Review, Piker Press, Rhyvers, Setu, Scarlet Leaf Review, Spillwords, Window Journal, Yugen Quest Review, The Shadow Pond Journal, Bangalore Review.

Her book reviews have been published nationally and internationally in Setu, Bangalore Review, Different Truths, Kashmir Pen, and Fasihi.

Lopamudra Banerjee is an author, poet, translator, editor with several critically acclaimed books and anthologies in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. She has received the Journey Awards (First Place category winner) for her memoir Thwarted Escape: An Immigrant’s Wayward Journey, the International Reuel Prize for Poetry (2017) and other notable honors both from USA and India for her literary works. Recently, her poetry collection in collaboration with Priscilla Rice We Are What We Are has been a winner at New York Book Festival 2024. Her translation work Bakul Katha: Tale of the Emancipated Woman (original novel by Ashapurna Devi) has received Honorary Mention at London Book Festival 2022. Her latest translation work, The Bard and his Sister-in-law, a biographical novel on Tagore and Jorasanko Thakurbari has received critical acclaim in the media and has also received Honorary Mention at Paris Book Festival 2024 and New England Book Festival 2024. She has also co-produced and acted in the critically acclaimed poetry film Kolkata Cocktail (2019) and takes avid interest in theatre and podcasting.