Shweta Taneja Explained

Shweta Taneja
Birth Place:New Delhi, India
Occupation:Novelist, graphic novelist, journalist
Period:2012 -
Genre:Fantasy, Solarpunk

Shweta Taneja is an Indian author of novels, short fiction, graphic novels, nonfiction and comic books. Her work includes fantasy fiction series The Rakta Queen: An Anantya Tantrist Mystery,[1] The Matsya Curse: An Anantya Tantrist Mystery,[2] Cult of Chaos: An Anantya Tantrist Mystery[3] and books for YA and children including The Ghost Hunters of Kurseong[4] and How to Steal a Ghost @ Manipal.[5]

Her short story "The Daughter That Bleeds" was published in Best Asian Speculative Fiction[6] and won the Editor's Choice Award.[7] The story was translated into French under the title La Fille qui saigne, published in Galaxies magazine[8] and was a finalist in the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire Awards[9] for 2020 in France.

She wrote the scripts for The Skull Rosary, a five-story graphic novel involving the Hindu god Shiva (published by Holy Cow Entertainment)[10] and Krishna: Defender of Dharma, about the Hindu god Krishna (published by Campfire Graphic Novels).[11] She currently lives and works in Bangalore, India.

Biography

Shweta Taneja grew up in Delhi, India. She earned a master's degree in English Literature from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi and a Masters in Fashion Communication from the National Institute of Fashion Technology.

Writing career

Taneja's journalist career began with the magazines Femina and Men's Health (where she was the Assistant Editor of the India edition). She continues to write for several print and online publications including Mint,[12] Discover India, Scroll[13] and The Huffington Post (India).[14]

Her first publication was the Krishna: Defender of Dharma, a graphic novel about the Hindu god, for which she wrote the script and collaborated with illustrator Rajesh Nagulakonda. In 2013, the graphic novel was recommended for Classes 7 and 8 for schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, India by the Association of Writers & Illustrators for Children.[15]

The Ghost Hunters of Kurseong was her first novel. It involves a group of twelve-year-olds who solve a mystery in the hill town Kurseong in India.[16] Taneja promoted the novel using a children's detective workshop. Groups of children would solve a mystery within a given time and then draw out their version of the events[17]

The Skull Rosary was Taneja's second graphic novel. She wrote the script and collaborated with five different illustrators for each of the five stories in the novel. It was nominated for Best Writer and Best Cover for the Comic Con India awards 2013.[18]

Her next work was Cult of Chaos: An Anantya Tantrist Mystery which is a detective fantasy novel based in Delhi, India. The protagonist of Cult of Chaos is Anantya who is a woman tantrist - a practitioner of Tantra.[19] Cult of Chaos is billed as India's first tantic-detective novel.[20] The novel was launched with a quiz on paranormal and supernatural beliefs in India.[21]

In 2016, Taneja published How to Steal a Ghost @ Manipal which is as described by The Asian Age as "A young student turns into a paranormal investigator to impress her boyfriend."[22] The book is published in an ebook format by Juggernaut Books and it was the Taneja's foray into becoming a hybrid author.[23] Her second novel of the Anantya Tantrist Mystery series, The Matsya Curse, was published in 2017. The third novel of the Anantya Tantrist Mystery series, The Rakta Queen, was published in 2018.

In 2016, Taneja was selected for the Charles Wallace India Fellowship (Chichester University, UK).[24] In 2020, Taneja's short story was a finalist in the French Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire Awards 2020.[25] The short story is about a dystopian future in India where fertile women are treated as commodities.[26] In 2021 she published a children science book They Found What?/They Made What?.[27]

Bibliography

Novels

Name Type Publication year Publisher ISBN
The Rakta Queen: An Anantya Tantrist MysteryNovel 2018 HarperCollins978-9353023294
The Matsya Curse: An Anantya Tantrist MysteryNovel2017HarperCollins978-9352645022
Cult of Chaos: An Anantya Tantrist MysteryNovel2014HarperCollins978-9351364443

Children's books and young adult

Name Type Publication year Publisher ISBN
They Found What?/They Made What?Science2021Hachette India978-9389253979
How to Steal a Ghost @ ManipalNovel 2016 Juggernaut Books
The Ghost Hunters of KurseongNovel 2013 978-9350095539

Graphic novels

Name Type Publication year Publisher ISBN
The Skull RosaryGraphic novel 2013 Holy Cow Entertainment ASIN: B00HNSSUDQ
Krishna: Defender of DharmaGraphic novel2012Campfire Graphic Novels978-9380741710

Short stories

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Rakta Queen. HarperCollinsPublishers India. 2020-02-27. 27 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200227231525/https://harpercollins.co.in/book/the-rakta-queen/. live.
  2. Web site: HarperCollinsPublishers India The Matsya Curse. harpercollins.co.in. 2017-06-28. 27 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200227234620/https://harpercollins.co.in/book/the-matsya-curse/. live.
  3. Web site: HarperCollinsPublishers India Cult of Chaos. harpercollins.co.in. 2017-06-28. 27 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200227231536/https://harpercollins.co.in/book/cult-of-chaos-an-anantya-tantrist-mystery/. live.
  4. Web site: HACHETTE. www.hachetteindia.com. 2017-06-28. 18 October 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151018131409/http://www.hachetteindia.com/TitleDetails.aspx?titleId=44492. dead.
  5. Web site: Juggernaut Books. 2017-06-28. www.juggernaut.in. 10 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230310133121/https://www.juggernaut.in/books/7291786ce12f40d4b767581b24f13891. dead.
  6. Web site: The Best Asian Speculative Fiction. Dutta-Asane. Sucharita. kitaab. en. 2020-02-27. 4 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230604102833/https://kitaab.org/tag/the-best-asian-speculative-fiction/. live.
  7. Web site: Indian Author Shweta's Short Story Wins Editor's Choice Award. indianobserverpost.com. 2020-02-27.
  8. Web site: Sommaire de la revue Galaxie 58 SF. Birnie-Scott. Xavier. Galaxies-SF. fr-FR. 2020-02-27. 15 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230415204513/https://galaxies-sf.com/sommaire.php?id_revue=62. live.
  9. Web site: Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2020 – Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire. fr-FR. 2020-02-27. 7 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231207222035/https://gpi.noosfere.org/gpi-2020/. live.
  10. Web site: Holy Cow Entertainment The Skull Rosary. www.holycow.in. en-US. 2017-06-28. 23 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170623144012/http://www.holycow.in/product/skull-rosary/. live.
  11. Web site: Krishna: Defender of Dharma . Campfire . 10 March 2015 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131537/http://www.campfire.co.in/products/krishna-defender-of-dharma . live .
  12. Web site: Shweta's articles for Mint. 9 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402100203/http://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Keyword/shweta%20taneja. live.
  13. Web site: Shweta Taneja Scroll.in. scroll.in. 29 July 2016. 15 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160815124940/http://scroll.in/authors/1677. live.
  14. Web site: Shweta's articles for Huffington Post India. 9 March 2015. 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112352/http://www.huffingtonpost.in/search?q=shweta+taneja&s_it=aolin-huffpo-V1. live.
  15. Web site: CBSE Reading Promotion, SNo 94. 9 March 2015. 15 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140715054149/http://cbseacademic.in/web_material/publication/1_Recommended_Reading_Lists_by_AWIC_%26_PAG-e-2013.pdf. live.
  16. Web site: 'I became a writer by chance!': Swetha Padmanabhan - Citizen Matters, Bangalore News . Bangalore.citizenmatters.in . 10 March 2015 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122013/http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/a-chat-with-shweta-taneja-fantasy-writer-and-journalist . live .
  17. Web site: Bhumika K. . Kids crack a whodunnit . The Hindu . 10 December 2013 . 10 March 2015 . 29 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140329202615/http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/kids-crack-a-whodunnit/article5443973.ece . live .
  18. Web site: Comic Con India Awards 2013 Nominees Announced: Special Awards for Pran Kumar Sharma and Tinkle Studio . AnimationXpress . 16 January 2014 . 10 March 2015 . 23 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923172230/http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php/comics/comic-con-india-awards-2013-nominees-announced-special-awards-for-pran-kumar-sharma-and-tinkle-studio . live .
  19. Web site: Mini Anthikad-Chhibber . Fast, furious and completely magical . The Hindu . 23 February 2015 . 10 March 2015 . 25 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181025023609/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/fast-furious-and-completely-magical/article6925583.ece . live .
  20. Web site: - Rohini Nair . A supernatural detective thriller . The Asian Age . 10 February 2015 . 10 March 2015 . 2 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143041/http://www.asianage.com/books/supernatural-detective-thriller-597 . live .
  21. Web site: Sravasti Datta. 4 February 2015. The thrill in occult. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025023710/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-thrill-in-occult/article6857297.ece. 25 October 2018. 10 March 2015. The Hindu. live.
  22. News: Power of the unknown. 2016-10-19. asianage.com/. 2017-06-28. 25 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180325232006/http://www.asianage.com/books/power-unknown-670. live.
  23. News: Seamlessly moving between worlds. Chhibber. Mini Anthikad. The Hindu. 2017-06-28. en. 24 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161124080854/http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/Seamlessly-moving-between-worlds/article16670629.ece?. live.
  24. Web site: The Lounge Chair Interview: 10 Questions with Shweta Taneja. Anjum. Zafar. 25 January 2016. 29 July 2016. 7 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160807030345/https://kitaab.org/2016/01/25/the-lounge-chair-interview-10-questions-with-shweta-taneja/. live.
  25. News: Shweta Taneja's short story in Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Awards's shortlist. 9 February 2020. 10 February 2020. The Indian Express. 9 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200209205802/https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/shweta-tanejas-short-story-in-grand-prix-de-limaginaire-awardss-shortlist-6258870/. live.
  26. News: Shweta Taneja: Forging a French connection. Vidya. Iyengar. 10 February 2020. 10 February 2020. The New Indian Express. 11 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200211184212/https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/feb/10/shweta-taneja-forging-a-french-connection-2101224.html. live.
  27. Web site: 2021-02-22. Book introduces children to rare discoveries of Indian scientists. 2021-08-24. The Indian Express. en. 21 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220821075037/https://indianexpress.com/article/books-and-literature/they-found-what-they-made-what-book-introduces-children-to-rare-discoveries-of-indian-scientists-7199038/. live.
  28. Web site: Multispecies Cities. 2021-08-24. WORLD WEAVER PRESS. en. 24 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230624125051/https://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p176/Multispecies_Cities.html. live.

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