Meet the 2022 Winners of the South Asia Book Award!
Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps
Thatha takes his granddaughter Varsha to weekly bharatanatyam classical dance lessons while her brother, Varun, tags along. Unexpectedly, the rhythm draws Varun in, but amid spirit crushing comments he’s uncertain that dance is for boys until Thatha shows his dance moves and reveals his past as a dancer in India. (Grades PK-2)
The Marvelous Mirza Girls
A mother and daughter story of resilience, strength, and love, as they rediscover themselves and each other while being lost in the myriad gallis of the City of Djinns, Delhi. Sheba Karim transports you with Ruby and Noreen to the heart and soul of Delhi through her vivid descriptions of culture, architecture, ruins, and of course-the food. (Grades 9-12)
Born Behind Bars
Kabir was born in jail, where his mother was unjustly serving time. When determined that he was too old to stay and is suddenly released, he loses the only family and home he knows. The rest of the story is about him, learning how to survive in the world, with the help of Rani, a street girl. (Grades 5-8)
Meet the Winning Authors!
Srividhya Venkat
Srividhya Venkat has published several picture books, including DANCING IN THATHA'S FOOTSTEPS (winner of the 2022 South Asia Book Award) and THE CLEVER TAILOR (a 2020 South Asia Book Award Highly Commended Book). Having grown up in India and lived across three countries, Srividhya loves stories that are unique, yet universal. When not reading or writing, she loves to listen to music, tinker with new recipes and explore the world outside her window. She now resides in the Chicago area with her family.
Kavita Ramchandran
Kavita Ramchandran is an illustrator and graphic designer based in New York City, though she is originally from Mumbai, India. Over the past decade she has art directed children’s magazines, designed elementary-school text books, illustrated the award winning app HangART and is creator of the animated shorts - MAYA THE INDIAN PRINCESS and HAPPY HOLI MAYA! for Nick Jr. She made her debut as a picture book illustrator with DANCING IN THATHA'S FOOTSTEPS (winner of the 2022 South Asia Book Award), and is currently working on a few more. Her upcoming non-fiction picture book A IS FOR ASIAN AMERICAN, (Haymarket Books) is scheduled to be published in Summer 2023. She works across media, both traditional and digital, and is known for her profligate use of color.
Padma Venkatraman
Padma Venkatraman is the acclaimed American author of BORN BEHIND BARS, THE BRIDGE HOME, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND’S END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS. Her books have won numerous honors and awards (e.g. WNDB Walter Dean Myers Award, Golden Kite Award, South Asia Book Award, ALA Notable etc). She has a doctorate in oceanography and has spent time underwater, on ships where she was the only BIPOC female and the chief scientist, served as diversity director, and teacher. She was born in India, has lived on 5 different continents, and now calls Rhode Island home.
Sheba Karim
Sheba Karim is the author of the YA novels Skunk Girl, That Thing We Call a Heart, which made several Best Book lists including Bank Street and Kirkus, Mariam Sharma Hits the Road, a NPR Best Book of the Year, and The Marvelous Mirza Girls, winner of the South Asia Book Award. Her fiction and essays have been featured in 580 Split, Asia Literary Review, Femina, India Today, Literary Hub, Off Assignment, Sewanee Review (forthcoming Winter 2023), Shenandoah, South Asian Review, The Rumpus, Time Out Delhi and in several anthologies in the United States and India. She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University.
