Lavanya Arora & Mahima Kohli: Redefining Love In Fiction

The show opens with Lavanya and Mahima talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about their respective manuscripts – both in the space of contemporaray fiction dealing with romance and coming of age, accompanied by some fantastic book recommendations! We talk about research and the process of writing stories about urban Indian relationships. We also delve into what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts and chat about the misconceptions people have about romance in literature. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Lavanya and Mahima’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Pomodoro Method, Cobalt Blue, Deviants, Shantanu Bhattacharya, The Education Of Yuri, Jerry Pinto, Janice Pariat, The Nine Chambered Heart, Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year Of Rest And Relaxation, Eileen, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Vikram Seth, Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen, Hot Water, Bhavika Govil, Em And The Big Hoom, The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang, Crush, Richard Siken, Balaji Telefilms, Dhinchak Pooja, Lydia Davis, Kim Addonizio, Li-Young Lee, Kazim Ali, Olivia Laing, Franz Kafka, Letters To Milena, Marcel Proust, Sooryavansham, Welcome, Indra The Tiger, Lost In Translation, Shawshank Redemption, Catch Me If You Can, The Godfather, Harry Potter, Magic Pot, Tinkle, Jaani Dushman, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Airplane Mode, Shahnaz Habib, Chronicle Of An Hour And A Half, Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari, The Good Wife, No New Notifications, Kannan Gill, Quizzing With Comedians, Gangs Of Wasseypur

Lavanya Arora (they/he) is an independent researcher and writer exploring biology, culture, and food through stories, poetry, and narrative-driven articles. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Condé Nast Traveller India, Frontier Poetry, Soft Union, and elsewhere. In a past life, they tried understanding plant and bacterial DNA. You can find them on Instagram @lavaurora

Mahima Kohli is a writer and editor based in Mumbai. She has edited several books, and her short fiction has appeared in Gulmohar Quarterly and been adapted into sleep stories in three languages. She is currently working on a novel that looks at marriage, identity and family dynamics from an urban Punjabi lens. Mahima loves specialty coffee, books and nature, and works in taxation to pay for all that. You can find her on Instagram @kohliaroundtheworld

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/

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