YUYUTSU SHARMA
Yuyutsu Sharma is the recipient of fellowships and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, Ireland Literature Exchange, Trubar Foundation, Slovenia, The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature and The Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature, Yuyutsu RD Sharma is a distinguished poet and translator. He has published nine poetry collections including, A Blizzard in my Bones: New York Poems (Nirala, 2016), Quaking Cantos: Nepal Earthquake Poems, (Nirala, 2016), Milarepa’s Bones, 33 New Poems, (Nirala, 2012), and Nepal Trilogy, Photographs and Poetry on Annapurna, Everest, Helambu & Langtang (www.Nepal-Trilogy.de ) Two books of his poetry, Poemes de l’ Himalayas (L’Harmattan, Paris) and Poemas de Los Himalayas (Cosmopoeticia, Cordoba, Spain) just appeared in French and Spanish respectively. He was at the Poetry Parnassus Festival organized to celebrate London Olympics 2012 where he represented Nepal and India. Currently, Yuyutsu is the Visiting Poet at Columbia University, New York. He visited Argentina earlier in June to participate in the International Poetry Festival, Buenos Aires. Half the year, he travels and reads all over the world to read from his works and conducts creative writing workshop at various universities in North America and Europe but goes trekking in the Himalayas when back home.
MEERA KLEIN
Local author Meera Klein’s writing combines her love of cooking and storytelling into a mouth-watering tale. Since its debut in 2014, her book, My Mother’s Kitchen: A novel with recipes has won numerous awards and was selected as Winner in the 2015 International Book Awards in the Multi-Cultural Fiction category. The book has been featured in The Sacramento Bee, Capitol Public Radio and at the celebrated 2015 Authors on the Move fundraiser for the Sacramento Public Library. Although Meera is primarily a fiction writer, she has been known to write a poem or two. Her poetry has appeared in the Davis Poetry Anthology, Poetry Now and in Re-Markings Journal, India: Special World Poetry Issue. When she is not composing poems or shopping at the local farmers’ markets, Meera is busy working on two novels, including a sequel to My Mother’s Kitchen.
JASMEEN KAUR BASSI
Jasmeen Kaur Bassi, also known as Jassi, attends CSU Sacramento, in pursuit of her BA in English Literature/Creative Writing. She is currently working on a poetry collection that focuses on her East Indian culture. Jassi is a firm believer in her personal motto: “Words are as powerful as we make them to be.” Her ultimate goal as a poet is to create poetry that inspires her readers to appreciate the multicultural world in which we live in. One of Jassi’s favorite writers, Kahlil Gibran, is the Virgil to her Dante. He shares, “Generosity is not in giving me that which I need more than I do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.”
RHONY BHOPLA
Rhony Bhopla was born in London, and raised in California. She earned her Bachelors in Biology, and minor in Comparative Literature from U.C. Davis. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Poetry Center (SPC), and volunteers on the Education Team at the Crocker Art Museum. She moderates the SPC Thursday Poetry Workshop at the Valley Hi – North Laguna Library. Her work appears in: Medusa’s Kitchen, Brevities, Sacramento Voices, Flumes, among others. Ceremony, Rhony’s first chapbook, includes reveries on ancestral themes, and her journeys as a traveling writer.
HEERA KULKARNI
Heera Kulkarni is from New Delhi, India and immigrated to USA in 1982. She believes that communal harmony and peace is fostered by better exposure, understanding and appreciation of different cultures. She strives to bridge the gaps between cultures by using her training and experience as an Indian classical musician, a music teacher, a yoga teacher, and a poet. Heera is the founder/director of Sangeet Bharati, a non-profit organization dedicated to Inspiring, Developing and Nurturing Indian Arts (I.N.D.I.A.). She has also been teaching Indian classical music as the director of Raga Academy School of Indian Music. Heera writes poetry in Hindi, Marathi, and English. She has recorded some of her poems/songs in an album called “Shama.” She loves to do charitable work and karma yoga. Since 1990 she has organized events in and around Sacramento that share the culture, classical/popular arts and cooking from the Indian sub continent. You can attend her yoga classes at the Sierra 2 Center for Arts & Community & hear her poems in her Indian music concerts. Heera retired two years ago after teaching full time for 20 years in the Elk Grove Unified School District. She holds two masters degrees, one each from India and the US, in Social Work and Education, respectively. Her training also includes university degrees in Biological Sciences, Indian classical music & Yoga.
