T. V. Padma
Padma Venkatraman, also known as T. V. Padma (born 1969) is an American author who was born in India.[1]
Background
She was born in Chennai, a city in the south of India. She moved to the United States to pursue her studies further. She obtained her doctorate degree in oceanography at The College of William and Mary, did postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University and worked at the University of Rhode Island. She enjoys writing as much as she loves science and mathematics.
Novels
Padma’s debut novel, CLIMBING THE STAIRS, was released to starred reviews in Booklist, PW and VOYA. The Providence Journal’s Sam Coale called it a “fine, often heartbreaking first novel” and pointed out that although he was not a “young” adult, he loved it and had not realized that it was categorized as such until it was pointed out to him. The novel also received glowing reviews in Kirkus, SLJ, India New England and India Currents. CLIMBING THE STAIRS won the Julia Ward Howe award and the ASTAL RI Book of the year award and several other honors (ALA/YALSA BBYA; Amelia Bloomer List selection; Bank Street College of Education Best Book; Booklinks Best New Book; Booklist Editor’s Choice Best Book; Booksense Notable; Capitol Choice; CCBC choice; CLN Top 25; National Council of Social Studies/Children’s Book Center (NCSS/CBC) Notable; NYPL Best Book; PASLA Top 40; PW Flying Start) and was shortlisted for Reading Across Rhode Island, the Cybil awards, and state awards in ME, UT, SC and NJ.
Her debut novel Climbing the Stairs was published by Penguin-Putnam in 2008 and released to starred reviews in Booklist, Publishers Weekly and VOYA Magazine. The novel is the winner of the Boston Authors Club 2009 award, which was presented at the Boston Public Library in May 2009. The novel has also garnered several honors and awards, including: Booklist Editor's Choice Best Books of the Year, Booklinks Best New Books for the Classroom, New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, American Library Association YALSA Best Books of the Year, National Council of Social Studies CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice, Children's Literature Network Top 25 books of 2007-2008,[2] and a Booksense Notable citation and a Publishers Weekly Flying Start highlight.
Padma Venkatraman’s latest novel, A TIME TO DANCE, was released in May 2014 by Nancy Paulsen Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) to starred reviews in 5 journals (Kirkus, Booklist, Voices of Youth Advocates, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and School Library Journal); received glowing reviews in newspapers (such as the Denver Post, Chicago Times, Newsday and Providence Journal); and accumulated numerous awards and honors (e.g. American Library Association (ALA) Notable; ALA/Young Adult Library Association (YALSA) Best Book for Young Adults (BBYA), Booklist Top 10 art book for youth; Booklist Editor’s Choice BBYA; Bookworm Central Top 40; Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) choice; Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature (CSML) Best Book; Eliot Rosewater Award (IN) finalist; Forever Literary Top 10 Character Driven Books; International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities; International Reading Association (IRA) Notable Books for a Global Society; IndieBound selection; Kirkus BBYA; Mighty Girl Best Books of the year; New York Public Library (NYPL) Top 25.
Padma Venkatraman’s second novel, ISLAND’S END, was released to starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. It went on to win the international South Asia Book Award, and the Paterson Prize, as well as several honors (Kirkus BBYA; ALA/YALSA BBYA; Booklist Editor’s Choice BBYA; CCBC choice, and ALA/Amelia Bloomer selection) and was a finalist for the BAC award and NE-SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award.
Padma Venkatraman has participated on panels at Harvard and other universities; provided commencement speeches at schools and keynote addresses at numerous conferences (including an upcoming keynote at NCTE); and been invited to attend international book festivals such as the PEN World Voices Festival, the Hong Kong Author Festival and the Caribbean Beach Pen Literary Festival (in Trinidad), where she was the chief guest. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally on TV and radio.
Padma Venkatraman is an American and lives in Rhode Island, USA, with her family. She turned to writing after obtaining a doctorate in oceanography at the College of William and Mary and conducting post-doctoral research in Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Early Work
Venkatraman is also the recipient of the 2008 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for Nonfiction and the winner of a Storytelling World honor for her picture book The Cleverest Thief, published by August House.
References
- ↑ "Venkatraman, Padma". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ↑ "Books For Teens". Children's Literature Network. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
External links
- http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/
- http://www.publishersweekly.com/
- http://www.bostonauthorsclub.org/
- http://www.climbingthestairsbook.com/index.html
- A Short Biography
- An interview with Padma Venkatraman by Atula Ahuja