Shobhana Kumar

Shobhana Kumar’s first volume of poetry, ‘The Voices Never Stop,’ was published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta in 2012. Her second volume of poetry is titled, ‘*Conditions Apply’ was out in 2014. Her work is also featured in several anthologies, including Suvarnarekha, an anthology of contemporary women poets in India, The Dance of the Peacock and in the collection of The Poetry Society of India, 2015. Her work is featured in prominent international journals of poetry including The Missing Slate, Open Road Review, Coldnoon Poetics, Right Hand Pointing, among others. In 2015, her work was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is deeply influenced by haiku and the haibun and her work is featured in several international journals including Skylark. Three of her poems appear in a significant anthology, a collaborative poetry project between some of India’s best-known poets and Irish poets, titled All the Worlds Between, edited by eminent poets K. Srilata and Fiona Bolger, published by Yoda Press, and the book has just been released. She was one of 25 featured poets from India to be invited to the Poetry with Prakriti Festival in Chennai in December 2014. She has also read at an event curated by the American Consulate and Raedleaf Poetry, India, at Hyderabad—And Still They Rise, and at the inaugural Bengaluru Poetry Festival in August 2016. In September 2016, she was part of the World Haiku Festival. In 2013, Shobhana curated the first Coimbatore Literary Festival in her hometown. Over two days, the festival brought together many eminent poets, authors, publishers and artists. She co-edits the poetry section of Sonic Boom, an international journal of poetry and visual art, with fellow poet, Shloka Shankar. Including A Life of Impact, a biography on textile legend, Kasthuri Sreenivasan, she has authored six books of non-fiction—Coimbatore, The Emerging Indian Cosmopolis, SIMA—A journey Through 75 Years, Lakshmi, An Inspiring Legacy, An Event Called Life, Dr. P.C. Thomas in Conversation with Shobhana Kumar and Illumine—Celebrating 100 years of Dr. G.R. Damodaran. When not writing, she works as a strategy consultant, communications trainer and storyteller. She actively works with colleges to bring in humanities education and communication skills to students. She is a partner in Coimbatore Arts and Theatrical Society (CATS) and steers the literary activities of the team. Shobhana also works with educational institutions to bring critical thinking skills to engineering students.