Dr Kamakshi Pappu Murti is a retired professor of German Studies. She is an author of fiction and non-fiction. Her fictional writing includes children’s books and murder mysteries. Her scholarly writing is devoted to multi-cultural issues, as well as gender studies. Her first children’s book LALLI’S WINDOW was published in 2017 by Austin Macauley, and her first murder mystery MURDERS MOST MATRONLY came out in 2017 as an e-book by Juggernaut Books in India. Murti is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), Modern Language Association (MLA), American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). Murti’s scholarly writing is devoted to multi-cultural issues, as well as gender studies. Monographs include “Die Reinkarnation des Lesers als Autor: Ein rezeptionsgeschichtlicher Versuch über den Einfluß der altindischen Literatur auf deutsche Schriftsteller” (de Gruyter, 1990) “India: The Seductive and Seduced ‘Other’ of German Orientalism” (Praeger, 2000) and “To Veil or not to Veil: Europe’s Shape-shifting ‘Other’” (Peter Lang, 2012). Murti is presently working on a series about two teens, Yasemin and Nirmala (“Yasemin and Nirmala: A Tale of Two Teens”) who navigate peer pressure, social media, and their own physical disabilities (Yasemin loses an arm in an accident. Nirmala suffers from ALS).

Jury | 2021