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'', ''Padmavati'' and ''Genghis Khan,'' ''The Curse of Nader Shah and The Birth Of My Nation''. Sutapa has been the Director, Publishing at Encyclopædia Britannica Ltd, South Asia and Eupheus Learning Solutions.

Early life and education

Basu was born in

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology It comes from the old Austric word ráŕhá or ráŕho which means “land of red soil”.P.R. Sarkar Rarh - ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. 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 Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab (India), Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala ...

. She completed graduation with Honours in English Literature from Visvabharati University,

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...

and Post Graduation in English Literature from HN Bahuguna University,

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. She also holds a teaching degree from Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Vadodara. She lives in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

with her husband, Col. Satchit Kumar Basu, an ex-Army officer and family.

Career

As a publishing professional

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 Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

(India),

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

(South Asia)'','' Eupheus Learning Solutions and Readomania,'she has designed and supervised publishing of more than 400 titles.

As an author

Basu is the author of 10 books which include ''Dangle'' and ''Padmavati,''''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', The Birth of My Nation, and Parvatibai'.'' 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. 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. Her debut book, ''Dangle'' was nominated for the Anupam Kher Award for Best Debut English Novel in 2017. 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." Her non-fiction book for children, ''The Birth Of My Nation'', has been prescribed as a Reader for students of several schools in 2023. She is well-known for her best-selling historical fiction, ''Padmavati'''', 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'' was published in 2018 and continued with ''The Curse of Nader Shah'' 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 )'' 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.

As a writing coach

''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.

As a podcaster and talk show host

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

* Best Fiction Award by AutHer Awards, 2020, instituted by JK papers and the

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

for ''The Curse of Nader Shah'' * First Prize of the Times of India Write India Campaign for Amish Tripathi. 2016 * Nominated for the Anupam Kher Award for Best Debut English Novel in 2017. * Award for Excellence in Publishing by the Public Diplomacy Forum in 2021. * Nominated for Best Young Adult Book by Women Auther Awards and Valley of Words Book Awards - ''The Birth Of My Nation'' (2023)

Bibliography

Historical Fiction

Heroic Women of India Series

''Padmavati, The Queen Tells Her Own Story'' (Readomania, 2017) ''Parvatibai, The Forgotten Witness of the Battle of Panipat (Readomania'', 2023)

Invader Series

''The Legend of Genghis Khan'' (Readomania, 2018) ''The Curse of Nader Shah'' (Readomania, 2019)

Fiction

Thrillers

''Dangle'' ''The Cursed Inheritance'' (Readomania, 2021)

Children's Literature

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

Anthologies

''Out of the Blue, Stories with a Twist'' (Readomania, 2020) ''The Anatomy of Affection, Tales that Touch You'' (Readomania, 2020)

Non-Fiction

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

Academic

''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

The Sutapa Basu Show East London Radio Show Talking Stories StoryTelling on CBSE Shiksha Vani

References

External links

Sutapa Basu's webpage

Sutapa Basu on Linkedin

Sutapa Basu on Facebook

Sutapa Basu on Instagram

Sutapa Basu on Threads

Sutapa Basu's YouTube Channel