Otherworldly is an introductory poetry session, where we will write poems about the many fantastic worlds that we dream and live in. This three-hour long interactive workshop will introduce poets to form and expression, to fantasy as a speculative genre, and will be geared toward writing small-length verse.

Facilitator Bios

Dr Akhila Mohan CG is a poet and writer, currently based in Bengaluru. Her works have been published or forthcoming in over 30 national and international literary journals and anthologies including The Year Book of Indian Poetry 2022 (Hawakal), TMYS Review, Madras Courier, Prune Juice, Readomania, Failed Haiku, Muse India, and others. Tamarind: Sweet and Sour Poems about Love, Loss, Longing, and Life, published by Kitaab, Singapore, is her debut poetry collection. She is looking forward to reading for international poetry magazines.

She holds a PhD in English Literature. Her area of research is ‘A Study of Trauma in the Exile Narratives of Rahul Pandita and Siddhartha Gigoo’.

She was shortlisted for the Women’s Web Orange Flowers Awards 2023 (Poetry category), and she won the P. B. Shelley — Youth’s Unextinguished Fire International Poetry Award, 2021. She has also participated as a poet panellist at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2023. A domestic violence survivor, she is currently working on her second book, to crush dogmas surrounding divorce and remarriage. You can know more about her work at www.akhilamohancg.com.

State of Matter is a South Asian speculative fiction, on a quest to publish science fiction, fantasy and horror that inform experiences in our part of the world. We love contemporary horror, climate fiction and weird and obscure stuff. Our team measures six odd people with ties to Bangalore, who love talking about books, video games and TV series over filter coffee.