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Linda Ashok

2022-07-14T03:26:46Z

Busypedia:

{{AFC submission/draft}}

Linda Ashok (Born 22 February 1987) is an Indian poet and [[Journalist]] based in [[Kolkata]], [[India]]. Her first book of free verse, [https://books.google.com/books/about/Whorelight.html?id=pYLNtAEACAAJ Whorelight], was named the best book of 2017 "Bibliomania, Biblioboom: Best Books of 2017"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-31 |title=Bibliomania, Biblioboom: Best Books of 2017 |url=https://www.asianage.com/books/311217/bibliomania-biblioboom-best-books-of-2017.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Asian Age}}</ref> by [[Sudeep Sen]]. Whorelight received critical acclaim in [https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2018/january/whorelight-linda-ashok World Literature Today]. In 2017, she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Chichester, West Sussex, [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=A hand on the meter of Hyderabad |work=The New Indian Express |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2013/jun/12/A-hand-on-the-meter-of-Hyderabad-486193.html |access-date=2022-06-11}}</ref>

== Early Life and Education ==
{{Infobox person
| name = Linda Ashok
| birth_date = 22 February 1987 (age 35)
| birth_place = Kolkata, India
| education = English Honours, [[Rabindra Bharati University]], [[West Bengal]]
| alma_mater = [[Rabindra Bharati University]], [[West Bengal]]
| occupation = Poet and [[Journalist]]
| organization = Founding-Journalist of StartuptoEnterprise.com
| notable_works = Whorelight, ISBN: 9788193423080
Waiting for the Helicopter, ISBN: 9788194665168
Best Indian Poetry 2018, ISBN: 9788193929506
| website = StartuptoEnterprise.com
}}

=== Family ===
[https://lindaashok.com/press-and-media/ Linda Ashok] was born in [[Kolkata|Kolkata, India]], to a first-generation [[Hindus|Hindu]] converted Christian family.]

=== Education ===
Linda graduated in English Honors from [[Rabindra Bharati University]], West Bengal. There is no information about her pursuing higher studies.

=== Employment ===
Linda Ashok has worked with Fortune 100, 500s, and SMBs, namely IBM, ADP, Bank of America and Deloitte US-India. Currently, Linda Ashok is the Founding-Journalist of [http://StartuptoEnterprise.com StartuptoEnterprise.com] and an independent digital consultant.

== Work ==

=== As a Corporate Professional ===
As a supply chain marketing professional, her works have been cited in several peer-reviewed supply chain journals, including [https://iajournals.org/articles/iajpscm_v3_i1_217_234.pdf International Academic Journals]. As a digital tech consultant, her works appeared on [https://elearningindustry.com/members/linda-ashok eLearning Industry], [https://datafloq.com/user/linda-ashok/ Datafloq], [https://dzone.com/users/3827679/lindaashok.html DZone], and [https://craftresumes.com/the-perils-of-traditional-interview-questions-and-ways-to-deal-with-them/ Crafts Resume].

=== As a Journalist ===
As per MuckRack, Linda Ashok is the [https://muckrack.com/lindaashok Founding-Journalist] of StartutoEnterprise.com. Her news coverage of global technology startups of social impact appears on [https://muckrack.com/media-outlet/startuptoenterprise StartuptoEnterprise.com.]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spotlight|first=Outlook |title=Indian-English Poet Linda Ashok As A Tech Journalist On The State Of Being |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/indian-english-poet-linda-ashok-as-a-tech-journalist-on-the-state-of-being-news-203911 |access-date=2022-05-22 |website=Outlook India |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== As a Poet ===
Linda Ashok's poems appeared in several online poetry journals, including Cultural Daily<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-05 |title=Linda Ashok: Three Poems - Cultural Daily |url=https://culturaldaily.com/linda-ashok-three-poems/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>, Plume<ref>{{Cite web |last=Linda |first=Ashok |date=2016-10-24 |title=Linda Ashok: Letter from India: Worshiping the Stone Manasa |url=https://plumepoetry.com/essays-and-comment-3/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Plume |language=en-US}}</ref>, The Common<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-27 |title=October 2017 Poetry Feature |url=https://www.thecommononline.org/october-2017-poetry-feature/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Common |language=en-US}}</ref>, Vinyl Poetry & Prose<ref>{{Cite web |last=VinylEditors |date=2016-05-25 |title=Linda Ashok {{!}} |url=http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2016/05/linda-ashok/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>, Literary Hub<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-10-08 |title=#Actual Asian Poets |url=https://lithub.com/actual-asian-poets/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref>, Scroll.in<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bahuguna |first=Urvashi |title=Five newly published poets reveal new directions for Indian poetry in English |url=https://scroll.in/article/864069/five-newly-published-poets-reveal-new-directions-for-indian-poetry-in-english |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>, Right-Hand Pointing<ref>{{Cite web |title=Right Hand Pointing: Winter Haiku 2017 |url=https://www.righthandpointing.net/haiku-2017c |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=right-hand-pointing |language=en}}</ref>, Poetry Kanto<ref>{{Cite web |title=Linda Ashok {{!}} Poetry Kanto／ポエトリ関東 |url=http://poetrykanto.com/2014-issue/linda-ashok |access-date=2022-06-10 |language=en}}</ref>, Friend's Journal<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-01 |title=I Tell You No Jihad Can Change the Course of Rivers |url=https://www.friendsjournal.org/i-tell-you-no-jihad-can-change-the-course-of-rivers/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Friends Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>, Ethos Literary Journal<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashok |first=Linda |title=Poems by Linda Ashok {{!}} Ethos Literary Journal (ELJ) |url=https://www.ethosliterary.org/november-2018/poetry/poems-by-linda-ashok |access-date=2022-06-10 |language=en-US}}</ref>, Mascara Literary Review<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-05 |title=Linda Ashok |url=https://www.mascarareview.com/linda-ashok/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Mascara Literary Review |language=en-US}}</ref>, etc.

As a poet, she has appeared in several mainstream news media The Hindu<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sripathi |first=Apoorva |date=2014-12-03 |title='Every nanosecond is an experience' |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/lit-for-life/poetry-with-prakriti-linda-ashok/article6658407.ece |access-date=2022-06-10 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>, Firstpost<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-04 |title=Listen: From Mihir Vatsa to Linda Ashok, six poets under 40 recite their poems on post-globalisation-Living News , Firstpost |url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/listen-from-mihir-vatsa-to-linda-ashok-six-poets-under-40-recite-their-poems-on-post-globalisation-2815276.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Firstpost |language=en}}</ref>., Livemint<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghoshal |first=Somak |date=2018-11-24 |title=Who's afraid of poetry? |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/nJDjhiyUPPsmpTOvnOUgTK/Whos-afraid-of-poetry.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref>, MidDay<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-15 |title=Poetic justice is here |url=http://www.mid-day.com/sunday-mid-day/article/Poetic-justice-is-here-18656178 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Mid-day |language=en}}</ref>, The Times Of India<ref>{{Cite web |title=Playing with poetry - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/playing-with-poetry/articleshow/19439704.cms |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>, The New Indian Express<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of Bards: Eminent poets who settled down in Hyderabad |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2018/mar/31/city-of-bards-eminent-poets-who-settled-down-in-hyderabad-1794858.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>, Asian Age<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-31 |title=Bibliomania, Biblioboom: Best Books of 2017 |url=https://www.asianage.com/books/311217/bibliomania-biblioboom-best-books-of-2017.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The Asian Age}}</ref>, The Hindu Business Line<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-29 |title=2017: New poets, and many returning ones crowded the year |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/breathless-verses/article22345337.ece1 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.thehindubusinessline.com |language=en}}</ref>, The Citizen<ref>{{Cite web |last=ghosh |first=chandrani |title=Whorelight: The Prostitution of Light to Rescue Us From our Darkness |url=https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/newsdetail/index/7/11714/whorelight-the-prostitution-of-light-to-rescue-us-from-our-darkness |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.thecitizen.in |language=en-US}}</ref>, Millennium Post<ref>{{Cite web |last=MPost |date=2021-04-24 |title=Imprint of cumulative changes |url=http://www.millenniumpost.in/books/imprint-of-cumulative-changes-438163 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.millenniumpost.in |language=en}}</ref>, Business Standard<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gupta |first=Uttaran Das |date=2020-06-19 |title=Little letters of love |work=Business Standard India |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/little-letters-of-love-120061901753_1.html |access-date=2022-06-10}}</ref>, among others.

Linda Ashok's poetry has been cited in many dissertations such as "Indian English Poetry; Current Flow And Destination (The Year 2000 Onward)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mukherjee |first=Jagari |title=INDIAN ENGLISH POETRY; CURRENT FLOW AND DESTINATION (YEAR 2000 ONWARD |url=https://www.academia.edu/37934681}}</ref> by Jagari Mukherjee, the Ph.D. thesis of Poet Alvin Pang, titled "Writing the Multiple: From Chapalang to Confluence<ref>{{Cite web |title=Writing the multiple: from Chapalang to Confluence |url=https://researchrepository.rmit.edu.au/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Writing-the-multiple-from-chapalang-to-confluence/9921893510101341 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=researchrepository.rmit.edu.au}}</ref>," and the Ph.D. thesis of Champa Chettri, titled [http://14.139.206.50:8080/jspui/bitstream/1/6533/1/Champa%20Chettri-PhD-English.pdf “Poetry as History: A Pragmatic Study of North-East Poetry in English and in English Translation.]”

=== As a Poetry Award Sponsor & Publisher ===
Linda Ashok instituted the [https://www.siasat.com/hyderabadi-duo-blend-sufism-with-hip-hop-music-in-new-album-2027484/ RL Poetry Award], one of India's top four poetry awards active from 2012 to 2019<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Kanishka |title=Eye on the prize: This list of Indian literary awards for books in English is a long and varied one |url=https://scroll.in/article/895391/eye-on-the-prize-this-list-of-indian-literary-awards-for-books-in-english-is-a-long-and-varied-one |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>. The RL Poetry Award has been a stepping stone<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poets translating Poets - Essays-Goethe-Institut |url=https://www.goethe.de/ins/in/lp/prj/ptp/mag/en14973371.htm |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=www.goethe.de}}</ref> in the careers of many Indian poets, including Tushar Jain, Rohan Chhetri, Rochelle Potkar and many others<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Kanishka |title=The flag-bearers of verse: How five independent presses publish poetry in India |url=https://scroll.in/article/897912/the-flag-bearers-of-verse-how-five-independent-presses-publish-poetry-in-india |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>. Honored as one of the top five and only woman-run poetry publication houses by Scroll.in, RLFPA Editions published the winning manuscripts of Shalim Hussain, Preeti Vangani, Barnali Ray Shukla, Meera Nair, Stephen Byrne, Victoria Naa Takia Nunoo, among others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Badhwar |first=Natasha |date=2019-08-02 |title='Poetry will be turmeric caught in the cracks' |url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/-poetry-will-be-turmeric-caught-in-the-cracks-1564746117022.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Preeti Vangani explores the endurance female body possess |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/books/2019/oct/01/preeti-vangani-explores-the-endurance-female-body-possess-2041422.html |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

== Notable Work ==

=== Poetry Books ===

* Whorelight, ISBN: 9788193423080<ref>{{Cite web |title=Whorelight and Dreams of the Sacred and Ephemeral: Two contrasting tales |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-reviews/whorelight-and-dreams-of-the-sacred-and-ephemeral-two-contrasting-tales |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Free Press Journal |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Daruwalla |first=Keki N. |date=2018-09-15 |title=How to write a good review |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/some-advice-for-fellow-reviewers/article24944821.ece |access-date=2022-06-11 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
* Waiting for the Helicopter, ISBN: 9788194665168<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashok |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHQGzgEACAAJ |title=Waiting for the Helicopter |date=2020-10-09 |publisher=Hawakal Publishers |isbn=978-81-946651-6-8 |language=en}}</ref>
* Best Indian Poetry 2018, ISBN: 9788193929506<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-29 |title=Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier |url=http://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/Mumbai-Diary-Sunday-Dossier-19651156 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Mid-day |language=en}}</ref>

=== Poetry Anthologies ===

* 40 Under 40: An Anthology of Post-Globalisation, PoetrywallaDas, Nabina; Ali, Semeen (2016). 40 Under 40: [https://books.google.com/books?id=EYkxzgEACAAJ&newbks=0&hl=en An Anthology of Post-globalisation Poetry]. Poetrywala. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-93-82749-44-8|978-93-82749-44-8]]., 2016, [https://www.firstpost.com/living/listen-from-mihir-vatsa-to-linda-ashok-six-poets-under-40-recite-their-poems-on-post-globalisation-2815276.html "Listen: From Mihir Vatsa to Linda Ashok, six poets under 40 recite their poems on post-globalisation-Living News, Firstpost."] Firstpost. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2021. <nowiki>ISBN 978-9382749448</nowiki>
* Choice Words: Writers on Abortion, Haymarket Books, 2020, Finch, Annie (7 April 2020). Choice Words: Writers on Abortion. Haymarket Books. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-1-64259-200-9|978-1-64259-200-9]]. ISBN 978-1642591484
* No News: 90 Poets Reflect on a Unique BBC Newscast Munden, Paul; Pang, Alvin; Strange, Shane (18 April 2020). [https://books.google.com/books?id=vTGDzQEACAAJ&newbks=0 No News: 90 Poets Reflect on a Unique BBC Newscast.] Recent Work Press. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-0-6486853-8-8|978-0-6486853-8-8]]., Recent Work Press, <nowiki>ISBN 978-0648685388</nowiki>
* Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians [https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/sahitya-akademi-publishes-new-anthology-to-mark-200-years-of-indian-english-poetry20191104171603/ "Sahitya Akademi publishes new anthology to mark 200 years of Indian English poetry"]. ANI News. Retrieved 22 June 2021., Sahitya Akademi, <nowiki>ISBN 978-9389195644</nowiki>

== Controversy ==
Poet Linda Ashok is ambivalent about withdrawing her name from the anthology but claims she confronted Sen in an email about the instances when he made her feel uncomfortable in the past, and he replied with an apology.<ref>{{Cite web |last=India |first=The Hans |title=Poets Receive Royal Welcome at 'The Durbar' |url=https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Telangana/2019-02-25/Poets-Receive-Royal-Welcome-at-The-Durbar/501523 |access-date=2022-06-11 |website=The Hans India |language=en}}</ref> “My own experience with Sen is not a case of sexual harassment but certainly very embarrassing and unpleasant,” said Ashok, the editor of RaedLeaf Foundation for Poetry and Allied Arts, a foundation that has been offering the annual RL Poetry Award since 2013. Ashok believes that this issue is not just about Sen and that many women in the poetry world have faced different forms of sexual harassment over the years. She claimed that many poets are legitimately afraid of talking about their experiences publicly because some of the editors and publishers are powerful and influential. “There is a fear of backlash. The poetry world is small and there are very few opportunities of publishing and recognition,” she said. Johari, Aarefa (8 March 2018). "Sexual harassment allegations against editor prompt poets to withdraw from Sahitya Akademi book."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johari |first=Aarefa |title=Sexual harassment allegations against editor prompt poets to withdraw from Sahitya Akademi book |url=https://scroll.in/article/871136/sexual-harassment-allegations-against-editor-prompt-poets-to-withdraw-from-sahitya-akademi-book |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Scroll.in]].

== References ==

<references />

{{AfC submission|||ts=20220714085646|u=Busypedia|ns=118}}

Linda Ashok

2022-07-14T03:25:02Z

Busypedia: Created page with "{{AFC submission/draft}}  Linda Ashok (Born 22 February 1987) is an Indian poet and Journalist based in Kolkata, India. Her first book of free verse, [https://books.google.com/books/about/Whorelight.html?id=pYLNtAEACAAJ Whorelight], was named the best book of 2017 "Bibliomania, Biblioboom: Best Books of 2017"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-31 |title=Bibliomania, Biblioboom: Best Books of 2017 |url=https://www.asianage.com/books/3112..."