Art and Imagination: The Creative Journey of an Author

Vivek Shanbhag is a Kannada author, editor and playwright. He has published 13 works of fiction and edited two anthologies. He founded the pioneering literary journal Desha Kaala, editing it for seven years. His critically-acclaimed novel Ghachar Ghochar has been translated into 20 languages worldwide. It was shortlisted for LA Times award and was on the list of the best ten books of 2017 by NY Times as well as The Guardian. Vivek is the co-translator of U R Ananthamurthy’s book ‘Hindutva or Hind Swaraj’ into English.
His recent novel available in English translation is titled “Sakina’s Kiss”.
He is a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the Ashoka University. He is an engineer by training and lives in Bangalore.

S R Vijayashankar is a well-known literary critic in Kannada and writes regularly for more than four decades including columns and book reviews including a few in English media. So far, he has published 22 books in Kannada .
He is a recipient of over 10 prestigious awards for literary criticism in Kannada which includes Karnataka Sahitya Academy awards twice; Dr G S Shivarudrappa & Prof L S Sheshagiri Rao awards for lifetime contribution to literary criticism.

He has studied journalism, English literature, law and management. After a few years of teaching in a college, he has moved over to industry and worked in Indian and American companies for over 3 decades. Later he has worked as a visiting professor in Bengaluru City University and has given special lectures in Stony Brook University. He has also served as director of the Translation Centre of Central Sahitya Akademi for five years. Vijayashankar lives in Bengaluru.