CEO: Kanishka Gupta
Kanishka Gupta is a writer, editor and researcher. He started his career as the Chief Editor of a men’s lifestyle portal, where he edited more than 600 articles covering all aspects of fashion and lifestyle. Later, he worked for a literary agency and extensively read and recommended manuscripts. As a literary consultant with Pratilipi, Kanishka has helped the journal reach out to the following writers: Aditi Machado, Anupama Raju, Arunava Sinha, Ashok Banker, Aruni Kashyap, Meena Kandasamy, Preeta Samarasan, Priya Sarrukai Chhabria, Sridhar/Thayil and Sumana Roy. As a researcher, he has worked on In Search of Sita, a bestselling work published by Penguin Books India. He also used to edit the creative lifestyle magazine, Platform. He is very fond of edgy, quirky and dark fiction but will look at all manuscripts.
His first novel, History of Hate, was longlisted for the Man Asian Prize, 2009.
Editorial Head: Rahul Soni
Rahul Soni is a writer, editor and translator based in India. He founded and, from 2008 to 2012, edited Pratilipi, a literary journal, and Pratilipi Books, an independent publishing imprint, and is Season Coordinator with the Sangam House international writers’ residency program. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Almost Island, Asymptote, Biblio, Dhauli Review, Hindi, Indian Literature, La Hoja de Arena, Out of Print Magazine, Poetry International Web, Pratilipi, Recours au Poème, Tehelka, and other venues. He edited the anthology of Hindi Poetry in English translation, Home from a Distance (Pratilipi Books, 2011), and translated Shrikant Verma’s collection of poetry, Magadh (Almost Island Books, 2013). He is currently working on a translation of Geetanjali Shree’s novel Tirohit for HarperCollins, as well as on the works of another Hindi poet, Dhoomil. He was a Charles Wallace Visiting Fellow in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia in 2010 and received the Sangam House Fellowship in 2012.
Senior Editor: Ujwala Samarth
Ujwala Samarth has freelanced extensively as a features writer for various newspapers and magazines in Bombay and Delhi. She has worked as a researcher-writer with the Centre for Science and Environment, and as an editor with the Voluntary Health Association of India. She has written/adapted several short plays, one of which (The Man Who Wanted to Fly) has been published by Scholastic Publications. She has also been a teacher for many years and is now an educational consultant who still likes reading and writing more than anything else in the world.
Editor: Sujatha Sevellimedu
Sujatha Sevellimedu is a writer, editor and a true lover of the writing craft. She has an MA with Distinction in Writing from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and she has been taught by and worked with eminent writers Maureen Freely, Anita Mason, A.L. Kennedy and China Miéville. She has another Masters degree in Media and Communication and has also tried her hand at screenwriting and teaching at the university level. She is currently doing a Certificate program in Publishing at NYU. When Sujatha is not editing or attending classes, she is engaged in the pursuit of completing her own novel.
Reader / Consultant: Gouri Dange
Gouri Dange is a writer, book editor and practising family counsellor. Her features, articles, interviews, short stories – various works of fiction and non-fiction – appear regularly in leading Indian publications. Her writing and short stories have been featured in Stories at the Coffee Table (Caferati, 2006) and Being Single in India (Penguin, India, 2006). In July 2008, Penguin India published her novel 3, Zakia Mansion. In September 2008, Jaico Books published her ABCs of Parenting. A screenplay that she has written, Second Marriage, is currently being looked at by two production houses. She holds writing workshops and has edited and assisted in the writing of over 100 books over the last 15 years, on Indian music, art and art history, social movements, the environment, business, travel, world cuisine, dog watching, etc. She has assisted in the structuring and characterization of screenplays-in-the-making and has associated closely with the Indian publishing and film industries. Gouri undertakes book coaching – enabling writers to actually get down to writing that book. She helps them with structuring, scheduling, working to a deadline, providing them with feedback and tips to keep at the writing/rewriting process.