Payal Kapadia

Payal Kapadia loves words for the stories they tell, even more for the stories they carry inside them. She studied English Literature at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and earned an M.Sc. degree (Journalism) from Northwestern University. Writing for news outlets in the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and India, she was drawn to offbeat tales of unsung heroes and lost causes.

Her debut novella Wisha Wozzariter won the 2013 Crossword Book Award for Children’s Writing and is in the 101 Indian Children’s Books We Love! compilation. Her best-selling books include the well-loved Horrid High series; a children’s biography of B.R. Ambedkar; Twice Upon a Time and Maidless in Mumbai.

Payal now lives somewhere in Mumbai, in a flat among flats in a high-rise among high-rises in a street among streets. But she can see the sea from her window and sometimes it is big enough to swallow the sky and the clouds tumble into it. On those days, she writes.

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