Janhavi Acharekar (born 1973) is an Indian writer of fiction and travel. She is the author of the novel Wanderers, All (2015), a collection of short stories Window Seat: Rush-hour stories from the city (2009), both published by HarperCollins and a travel guide Moon Mumbai and Goa (2009), by Moon Handbooks.
Early life and education
Janhavi Acharekar grew up in the cities of
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and obtained a degree in English from
St Xavier's College, Mumbai, She has a master's degree in English from the
University of Mumbai
The University of Mumbai is a collegiate university, collegiate, State university (India), state-owned, Public university, public research university in Mumbai.
The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the un ...
and a diploma in mass communication from the Xavier Institute of Communications. She began her writing career as a freelance journalist for ''The Independent'' while still a student at St. Xavier's and then went on to work as a copywriter in advertising.
Career
Acharekar's novel ''Wanderers, All'' was published by HarperCollins India
in 2015.
Her short stories appear in the collection ''Window Seat'' (HarperCollins India, 2009)
(3) as well as in anthologies of short fiction such as the Indo-Australian Fear Factor: Terror Incognito and Only Connect: Short Fiction about Technology and Us from Australia and the Indian Subcontinent (5) (6) edited by Meenakshi Bharat and Sharon Rundle. Her story A Good Riot was shortlisted for The Little Magazine's new writing award in 2006
She is the author of Moon Mumbai & Goa (Avalon, 2009) (7), the first Indian destination travel guide to be published by the American travel book series Moon Handbooks
It was a finalist in the Travel Guide category at Foreword Magazine's Book Of The Year Awards (BOTYA, USA). A condensed version, Moon Spotlight Goa, was published in 2010. She was a special contributor to the travel guide Driving Holidays Across India by Outlook Traveller.
Acharekar is a freelance travel writer and arts journalist. She is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller India (8) and writes book reviews and features for The Hindu. Her articles have appeared in The Statesman, The Times of India, Biblio, Vancouver Sun, and other publications. She has also curated several literary festivals in India and written two books for children (9).
Acharekar was awarded the Charles Wallace Visiting Writer's Fellowship at the University of Stirling in 2009. She was declared one of nine prominent Mumbai residents of the year by Asian Age (10) for her writing, in the same year.
She has also been invited to writing residencies at Sangam House in Pondicherry, H.A.L.D. in Denmark, and to the International Writers' and Translators' House in Ventspils, Latvia. An occasional curator of literary festivals, she has curated/ co-curated the Kala Ghoda, Crossword and Celebrate Bandra litfests in Mumbai. She was the founder-curator of Lit.mus, a multi-disciplinary litfest in Bangalore.
In 2023, she was awarded a stipend-funded fellowship of three months in Germany at the renowned Foundation Künstlerdorf
Schöppingen
Schöppingen is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately south-west of Steinfurt.
The Master of the Schöppingen Altarpiece derives his name from an altarpiece that ...
.
The residency program that hosts international writers, visual artists, and composers was started in 1989 and is funded by the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
and its
Kunststiftung NRW
Kunststiftung NRW (''Art Foundation NRW'') is a foundation created by the government of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. It was established on September 12, 1989, and started operations in the spring of 1990. It is based in Düsseldorf
...
. The foundation has more than a thousand applicants per year, the process is highly selective.
Books
* '' Wanderers, All ''(HarperCollins, 2015). .
* ''Window Seat'' (HarperCollins, 2009). .
* ''Moon Mumbai & Goa'' (Avalon, 2010). .
* ''Moon Spotlight Goa'' (Avalon, 2010). .
* ''The Little Maharaja and Sher Khan'' (Crossover, 2010) .
* ''The Maharaja's Last Prank'' (Crossover, 2010) .
References
Sources
Code=1609 HarperCollins India A Mumbai Montage, The Hindu Only Connect, RupaOnly Connect, Between The LinesMoon Mumbai & Goa in Outlook TravellerConde Nast Traveller India
External links
Janhavi Acharekar’s
Author Q&A on Mumbai and Goa
‘We’re going to the fair’, Article in The Hindu
‘Call of the curtain’, Article in The Hindu
‘Much ado about reading’, Article in The Hindu
of the white desert’, Article in The Hindu
‘Through 1857’, Review in The Hindu
The rot within
Mumbai Tea Party festival takes poetry to city’s tea houses
To Spiti with love
Arts and Humanities , About
Window Seat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acharekar, Janhavi
1973 births
Living people
Writers from Mumbai
University of Mumbai alumni
Indian women novelists
Indian women travel writers