Sutapa Basu is an Indian author, educationist, poet, translator and a writing coach. She is a best-selling, award-winning author most known for her works Dangle,[1][2] Padmavati[3] and Genghis Khan,[4] The Curse of Nader Shah and The Birth Of My Nation. Sutapa has been the Director, Publishing at Encyclopedia Britannica Ltd, South Asia and Eupheus Learning Solutions.

Sutapa Basu
Born20 January 1957
Bankura, West Bengal, India
OccupationAuthor, Educationist, Poet, Writing Coach
NationalityIndian
EducationPost Graduate in English Literature | Bachelors of Arts in Education
Alma materConvent of Jesus and Mary, Ambala

Visva-Bharati University

Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
Notable awardsAuthor Award 2019 -The Curse of Nader Shah

Write India Campaign 2016 - First Prize

Public Diplomacy Forum 2021 - Excellence in Publishing

Early life and education

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Basu was born in Bankura, West Bengal.[citation needed] Her father, Lt Col Subrata Bose, was an officer in the army and her mother, Susmita Bose, was a homemaker. She graduated from Convent of Jesus and Mary at Ambala.[5] She completed graduation with Honours in English Literature from Visvabharati University, Santiniketan and Post Graduation in English Literature from HN Bahuguna University, Uttarakhand. She also holds a teaching degree from Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Vadodara.[5]

She lives in Delhi with her husband, Col. Satchit Kumar Basu, an ex-Army officer and family.[citation needed]

Career

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As a publishing professional

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Her professional life of 47 years includes work as an educational faculty and creative writing trainer. As a publishing professional that spans a 25 year career with Oxford University Press (India), Encyclopædia Britannica (South Asia), Eupheus Learning Solutions and Readomania,[6]she has designed and supervised publishing of more than 400 titles.[citation needed]

As an author

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Basu is the author of 10 books which include Dangle[7] and Padmavati,[8]The Legend of Genghis Khan, The Curse of Nader Shah, Out of the Blue, The Anatomy of Affection, Princesses, Monsters and Magical Creatures, The Cursed Inheritance[9], The Birth of My Nation, and Parvatibai[10]. Dangle was her debut novel, a psychological thriller. She has contributed short stories to Crossed and Knotted, Defiant Dreams and When they Spoke anthologies and poems to Muse India, Kaafiyana, The Dawn Beyond Waste and Remnants of Loss poetry collections.[citation needed]

She is the editor of Chronicles of Urban Nomads, Crossed and Knotted, Rudraksha - When Gods Came Calling. Sutapa Basu won the first position for writing a short story in the genre of mythological-fiction in response to the prompt given by author Amish Tripathi in the 2017 TOI Write India Season 1.[11]

Her debut book, Dangle [7] was nominated for the Anupam Kher Award for Best Debut English Novel in 2017.[12] Basu's story, "Classroom Wiles" that talks about an English Teacher's first day at school, was one of the stories in a play directed by Sujata Soni Bali called "Once Upon a Time."[13] Her non-fiction book for children, The Birth Of My Nation, has been prescribed as a Reader for students of several schools in 2023.[14]

She is well-known for her best-selling historical fiction, Padmavati[8], The Queen Tells Her Own Story published in 2017. This is the first book in the Heroic Women of India Series. Her second historical fiction initiated the Invader Series with The Legend of Genghis Khan[15] was published in 2018 and continued with The Curse of Nader Shah[16] was published in 2019. Two of her anthology of short stories was published in 2020 and two books, The Cursed Inheritance (a mystery adventure) and Princesses, Monsters and Magical Creatures ( the English translation from Bengali of the iconic Thakurmar Jhuli )[17] were released in 2021. The Birth of My Nation was released in 2022 and Parvatibai (this is the second book in the Heroic Women of India Series) was launched in 2023. Her books have been published by Readomania Publishers till now.[citation needed]

As a writing coach

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Sutapa’s Studio is a learning space for writers. Basu mentors children, young adults, and aspiring authors in creative writing skills at Sutapa’s Studio. Recently an anthology Love Can Kill And Other Stories authored by the mentees of Sutapa’s Studio has been released.[citation needed]

As a podcaster and talk show host

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Sutapa hosts her own podcast called The Sutapa Basu Show.

Sutapa’s stories, poems and talks are podcast by the East London Talking Stories Radio Show and CBSE Shiksha Vani.

She writes a travel vlog called Sutapa’s Itchy Feet and maintains a YouTube Channel with videos, interviews, blogs and stories.

Bistro Buzz - Conversations with Sutapa Basu is a Facebook live chat with eminent personalities.

Awards & Recognition

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  • Best Fiction Award by AutHer Awards, 2020,[18] instituted by JK papers and the Times of India for The Curse of Nader Shah
  • First Prize of the Times of India Write India Campaign for Amish Tripathi.[19] 2016
  • Nominated for the Anupam Kher Award for Best Debut English Novel in 2017.[20]
  • Award for Excellence in Publishing by the Public Diplomacy Forum in 2021.[21]
  • Nominated for Best Young Adult Book by Women Auther Awards and Valley of Words Book Awards - The Birth Of My Nation (2023)[citation needed]

Bibliography

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Historical Fiction

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Heroic Women of India Series

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Padmavati, The Queen Tells Her Own Story (Readomania, 2017)

Parvatibai, The Forgotten Witness of the Battle of Panipat (Readomania, 2023)

Invader Series

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The Legend of Genghis Khan (Readomania, 2018)

The Curse of Nader Shah (Readomania, 2019)

Fiction

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Thrillers

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Dangle

The Cursed Inheritance (Readomania, 2021)

Children's Literature

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Princesses, Monsters, and Magical Creatures (Readomania, 2021)

Anthologies

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Out of the Blue, Stories with a Twist (Readomania, 2020)

The Anatomy of Affection, Tales that Touch You (Readomania, 2020)

Non-Fiction

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The Birth Of My Nation, Tracing India’s Nationhood (Readomania, 2022)

Academic

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The English Tree, Books 1 to 8 (Eupheus Learning Solutions, 2022)

The English Route, Books 1 to 8 (Saraswati House, 2016)

Emerald, Term Books 1 to 5 (Saraswati House, 2018)

Podcast

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The Sutapa Basu Show

East London Radio Show Talking Stories

StoryTelling on CBSE Shiksha Vani

References

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  1. ^ "Book Review: Sutapa Basu's 'Dangle' is an intricate tale of battling inner demons". News18. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Dangle By Sutapa Basu Has A Psychological Twist That Will Keep You Turning Pages [#BookReview]". Women's Web: For Women Who Do. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Padmavati By Sutapa Basu Tells An Extraordinary Story About An Extraordinary Queen - WritersMelon". WritersMelon. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. ^ "I fell in love with Genghis Khan, says author of book that destroys myths about the warlord". The Times of India. 22 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b "SUTAPA BASU". INCREDIBLE 18-01-20. 17 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Sutapa Basu's Profile". www.readomania.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b "An Interview with author, Sutapa Basu". Cafe Dissensus Everyday. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Writers Melon".
  9. ^ "Can a cursed inheritance be turned into a blessing?". The Statesman. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Micro Review: 'Parvatibai: The Forgotten Witness of the Batt ." Timesofindia.com. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Write India winner Sutapa Basu illustrates her Season 1 journey - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ^ India-West, R.M. VIJAYAKAR, Special to. "Pune International Literary Festival Institutes Anupam Kher Award". India West. Retrieved 20 January 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Life in five stories". www.asianage.com. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. ^ Rawat, Surabhi (26 January 2023). "I was appalled at people's misinformed ignorance about our c ." timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  15. ^ Tulika, Tulika (8 February 2019). "The Legend of Genghis Khan – A #Review". Beataboutthebook. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  16. ^ Nair, Ninu (8 November 2019). "The Curse of Nader Shah – Rise and Fall of a Tyrant by Sutapa Basu". Bookishloom. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  17. ^ Ghoshal, Somak (1 October 2021). "More than a century later, Thakurmar Jhuli still spins magic". LiveMint. p. 1. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  18. ^ "AutHer Awards 2020 declares its top winners - Times of India". The Times of India. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Write India winner Sutapa Basu illustrates her Season 1 journey - Times of India". The Times of India. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  20. ^ Orange City Lit Fest. "Historical novels, thrillers, children's literature, translations and short stories".
  21. ^ Chronicles, Chrysanthemum (12 June 2021). "Review of 'The Cursed Inheritance' a Novella by Sutapa Basu". Chrysanthemum_C. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
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