Who We Are

The Writers Workshop Team

Ananda Lal directs Writers Workshop since 2010, succeeding his father P. Lal. He retired as a Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He served as the Head of that Department and has a long and distinguished career in English literary studies in India, and as a translator and editor. His books include Rabindranath Tagore: Three Plays (1987, 2001), The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre (2004), Indian Drama in English: The Beginnings (2019), Utpal Dutt: Barricade (2021) and Songs of Tagore: Poetry and Melody (2023). He has lectured in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and all over India, reviewed theatre regularly for nearly 40 years, worked in films as a narrator and subtitler, and appeared in several documentaries.

 

 

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Shuktara Lal handled administrative work and correspondence under P. Lal and afterwards, and helped with the editing. She completed her B.A. and M.A. in English from Jadavpur University and obtained a second M.A., in Performance Studies, from New York University. She continues to advise the staff.

 

 

 

 

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Ushasi Sen Basu took over Shuktara’s responsibilities in 2023. She completed her B.A. and M.A. in English from Jadavpur University. She is a published fiction author. Her books include: Kathputli (2016), A Killer Among Us (2020) and Down a Dark Alley (2021).

 

 

 

 

 

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Writers Workshop books are printed by Abhijit Nath at his press in Lake Gardens, Kolkata, and bound by the family of Aktarun Begum, Tulamiah Mohiuddin’s widow, in a village near Diamond Harbour, outside Kolkata.

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Writers Workshop staff since 2000 comprised Debashis Dasgupta, Subhashis Dasgupta, Ranjan Ghoshal and Shibkumar Banerjee. After Debashis’s death, the others continue.