Name :  Sakshi Chanana

Date of Birth :16 November 1980

Academics: M.A, M.phil, PhD. (English)

 1. When did you find yourself in the world of words? 

 Words have been my constant companion since childhood. My first loves were Archies gallery cards and Locked diaries where in I would write all my secret feelings. Gradually, words became as indispensable as the air I breathe . I feel home when I am reading or writing and this is going to be a lifetime affair.

2. What do you think about the newly emerged genre "Micro-fiction" 

Shakespeare said it ages ago, “ Brevity is the soul of wit’. Micro fiction is just one of the attempts at expressing the huge panorama of feelings and emotions in the minimum words without loosing the aesthetic appeal. I believe Micro-fiction is also one of the good mediums for people / aspiring writers to challenge themselves and experiments with new forms like Flash fiction / 30 word story/ nano tales. It would essentially bring out an equilibrium required for any good writing.

3. Do you believe that we have sensationalized the concept of feminism? What is Feminism for you? 

Feminism for me, is being comfortable in your own skin without having to be accountable to anyone about what you wear, how you  talk, whom you eat or what you speak. It is a quest for freedom, which has been so royally granted to men in patriarchal societies since ages. It is also about having a sen of parity between men and women in all rights and duties. However, I feel that a distorted understanding of Feminism could make some people believe that it is anti-men but one must remember it is pro-women.

4. How the idea of Literary Aisle Delhi came? 

The idea of ‘Literary Aisle’ germinated in my deep desire to be connected with the words and also to make a platform where like-minded people could share their ideas and thoughts. The intention has been to promote and create literary spaces across different cities and to continue the legacy of great writers.  We have organised many book readings, poetry dates and creative writing workshops to this end.

5. Tell us about your book/s. 

My debut poetry anthology is titled ‘Webs of Light’. It was published in 2013  by Inner Child Press, USA. It revolves around the themes of love, relationships, gender and social institutions. 

This book ‘Web of Lights’ primarily deals with the twin themes of construing love as an infallible light of the cosmos as well as a kind of web that fixates us to this world of senses and its relationships. The attempt here is to highlight that it is only by immersing oneself into this deep web that one can transcend it and undo its illusion. For a poet, everything is real as long as it is lived on the plane of experience. Most of the poems have been created indifferent ways of being and thus each of them represents a different aspect of human life: Contradictory and Ambivalent. Such then is the texture of this book... my life...and the cosmos...always changing and evolving.

6. A message for the writer's community…

Be who you are. Wear your scars with pride and never ever forget to remember that in the end, we are all stories.