Anita Nahal

Anita Nahal, Ph.D., CDP, is a Pushcart Prize-nominated Indian American author and academic. She has one novel, four books of poetry, one of flash fiction, four for children, and five edited anthologies to her credit. Her third book of poetry, What’s wrong with us Kali women? (Kelsay, 2021), was nominated by Cyril Dabydeen, Guyanese Indian Canadian, Ottawa poet laureate emeritus, and novelist as the best poetry book in 2021 for Ars Notoria. It’s also mandatory reading in an elective course on multicultural society at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Anita’s first novel, Drenched Thoughts was released in 2023 by Authorspress and is also prescribed reading in the above university. Her latest poetry release is a collection of ekphrastic prose poetry, Kisses at the espresso bar (Kelsay, 2022). Anita’s poems have appeared in numerous journals in the US, UK, Asia, and Australia and have been anthologized in many collections, including The Polaris Trilogy,which will be sent to the moon in the Space X launch. Her poetry is also part of a recent anthology released by India’s National Academy of Letters, the Sahitya Akademi, Twenty Contemporary Indian English Poets. Anita has a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, a master’s, and M.Phil. from Delhi University, plus a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar-in-residence from Binghamton University, NY. Currently, Anita teaches at the University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC. Anita is the editor of the Newsletter, Poetry Virginia Society and secretary of the Montgomery Chapter, Maryland Writers Association. She is the daughter of Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novelist and professor Late Dr. Chaman Nahal and educationist Late Dr. Sudarshna Nahal. Her family includes her son, daughter-in-law, and goldendoodle girl. More on her at: www.anitanahal.com