Nirmala Govindarajan is an Indian author, social sector documentarian, journalist, curator, yoga teacher, travel writer, and pioneer of the Writer’s Yatra, Reader’s Yatra and Rhythm Yoga experiences in offbeat locations. She travels extensively on work, and for the love of being everywhere. Her novels are inspired by people in the hinterlands, and Bloody Marie (yet to be published), her newest work of literary fiction is inspired by witch-hunting in rural India and across countries. Her earlier novels Taboo and Hunger’s Daughters are being translated, and published in the Tamil by Kalachuvadu Publications. Nirmala’s novel Taboo (Picador, Pan Macmillan India, 2019) is inspired by under-age girls who are kidnapped and trafficked, and has been shortlisted for the 2020 Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize, nominated for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Awards 2020, and longlisted for the JK Paper Women AutHER Awards. Her novel Hunger’s Daughters (Published by Om Books International, 2019) is born out of her experience of documenting in India's rural heartlands of Orissa, Jharkhand and Karnataka, and draws focus to young breadwinners, especially girl children. Commissioned by Sapna Book House, in 2016, Nirmala has authored The Community Catalyst, a novel inspired by the life of a civil servant. The Community Catalyst is recommended reading for civil services aspirants, and is part of the New York Public Library catalogue as with leading university and public libraries in India. Conceptualising Mind Blogs 1.0 (Write Wing Media, 2005), an anecdotal book of prose, poetry and musings, Nirmala invited two fellow writers with diverse experiences and insights to co-write the book. This work seeks to inspire Gen Now, shining a torch on humanity.  Nirmala has conceptualised and co-edited New Voices in the New Age (Times of India Literary Carnival initiative 2013), a compilation of essays by students from various Bangalore colleges. She has contributed stories to the anthology Trailblazers of Bengaluru (Times Books, 2012), documenting interesting initiatives by pioneers of unique business ventures in the city. Nirmala has edited the bestselling work Peter Colaco’s Bangalore – A Century of Tales from City and Cantonment. In 2024, Nirmala contributed as Curatorial Lead for two literature festivals hosted by the Art Lovers of America (ALA) in New Jersey and Seattle. In 2014, Nirmala co- curated the debut Times Literary Carnival in Bangalore, and in 2016, she conceptualised and curated the Literary Lounge and Know Your Classics experiences for the British Council, Bangalore. Nirmala dabbles in theatre and art, and plays the western classical piano and violin. www.nirmalagovindarajan.com