Shastri Akella (he/they) is a queer migrant of color who is neurodivergent and comes from a working class background. Their debut novel, The Sea Elephants, was published in 2023 by Flatiron Books (USA) and Penguin (India). A queer bildungsroman set in 90s India, it was named a most anticipated debut by Good Morning America, Poets & Writers, and LGBTQ Reads, among others. They won the 2024 BLR Goldenberg Prize for Fiction and the 2024 William Faulkner Short Story Prize. Their story was selected for the 2024 Best American Short Stories. Their writing is/will be in Guernica, Black Warrior Review, Fairy Tale Review, LitHub, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, World Literature Review, and elsewhere. Originally from Vizag, they now live in East Lansing and teach creative writing at Michigan State University.
Shastri Akella will offer a craft session, All in Good Time: The Craft of Time in Fiction, an evening reading followed by Q&A, and mentor meetings with two independent writing residents. They will also join an afternoon panel.