There are hundreds of entries already in, and if you are interested in participating, there are a few days left before the deadline! Please click here for the details and what Shreya as Head Judge hopes to find in the stories sent in, as well as about her long and varied writing career in an interview taken by New Writers UK
Photo and caption by Olivia Rose Barns, Shreya is holding her collection of short stories, ‘Strange’ (aka. ‘Strange:Stories’), published by HarperCollins in 2019
Over Christmas 2024, a British and a South African professor from the University of Durham (est.1832) and the University of Bath, discovered Shreya’s debut book ‘Memoirs of My Body’ (HarperCollins 2017) and decided to devote a whole episode of their Feminist Sports Lab book club vodcast to its exploration.
Professor Stephen Mumford, Head of Philosophy at Durham University, and Dr Sheree Bekker, Professor in the Department for Health at the University of Bath, authors of several successful books, talk about Shreya’s first book and its “incredible feminist writing” in an insightful, easy yet scholarly conversation. In their introduction to their discussion of the book, they have said:
“In this episode of FSL Book Club, Sheree Bekker and Stephen Mumford dive into Shreya Sen-Handley’s bold and evocative book, Memoirs of My Body. They discuss how this deeply personal memoir explores themes of identity, self-expression, and the evolving relationship we have with our bodies. Through candid storytelling and cultural critique, Sen-Handley’s work challenges societal norms and celebrates the power of self-acceptance. Sheree and Stephen reflect on the book’s impact, sharing their own insights on its relevance to body image, autonomy, and liberation. If you’re curious about the intersections of culture, feminism, and personal growth, this conversation is for you.”
She had this to say afterwards, “Lovely to get a thank you note from the National Literacy Trust, about my involvement with the Women in Leadership programme — ‘Your contribution definitely made a difference to the young people there!’. Even lovelier was the on-the-day feedback from the hundred (or so) young delegates who declared that they found my words and career “inspiring” and came across after the talk to chat some more about work and life (and book and film recommendations)! A thought-provoking and rewarding event, run by Lancôme and the National Literacy Trust.”
Out in several popular Indian broadsheets this week, please click here to read in full
“Awards more fitting, I promise you, than the outrageous annual payments they gift themselves (do I smell a Muskrat or is that $56bn in ill-gotten gains?), or the made-much-of awards that are handed out like party favours amongst the One Per Cent. These poor little rich prats might have cornered the world’s resources, but have they got what they truly deserve? NO, but I’m not that bitch Karma, sadly, so I can’t deliver just desserts.
Yet, ask yourself, what do you give someone who has EVERYTHING? Here are six prizes so perfect for avaricious fat cats and ruthless despots that they’ve never even considered them…”
Image of Kanchenjunga, world’s third highest peak, by Stephen Handley in 2024
Shreya writes a monthly column for several widely circulated international newspapers, in this penultimate one for 2024, written just after Trump’s re-election and her own trip to the Himalayas, she puts forward a plan to protect our mental health, save the planet and survive Trump. To read it in full, please click here
Image: Teaching creative writing at Nottingham Writers Studio for the last decade
Shreya is hosting an online writing clinic next Tuesday 19 November 2024 for anyone anywhere who writes short fiction and might need some encouragement, inspiration, or problem-solving from an author, columnist and teacher of over 30 years of experience. Do check out the details if it’s of interest https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-writers-clinic-short-fiction-edition-tickets-1036167363477
“The bus trip from Nottingham to London had taken many long hours more than I’d expected and I desperately needed the bathroom as soon as we got to the British royal residence. Vaguely waved towards a corridor, I dived in through the first door I suspected led to a toilet, to find myself in a time warp…”
Please click here to read the article in full.
Image: From The British Media, the author can be seen in the front row, with The Queen at the centre
Please click here to read the article in full.
Pic: Shreya, at the time of her Higher Secondary/A-Level-equivalent exams in India, looking like it was causing her an exam nightmare or twenty!
(Pic: Reading ‘Handle With Care’ to Gerald Durrell, a travel literature inspiration of Shreya’s)
After Britain’s leading literacy charity, the National Literacy Trust, selected Shreya Sen-Handley’s 3rd book, ‘Handle With Care’ (HarperCollins 2022), from amongst many ‘reader favourites’ nominated across Britain, and presented it to The Queen last week, at their 30th anniversary celebrations, the British press covered the event extensively and the author and her book featured in each article (please check reel on previous post). BBC Radio caught wind of it and interviewed her soon after.
‘Handle With Care’ has had excellent reviews in the Indian press too, and last year, it was longlisted (in a very short list of 8 books) for Nonfiction Book of the Year by the Times of India’s Auther Awards, a prize eventually won by top Indian journalist, Barkha Dutt, known for her warzone broadcasts. And the Times of India has the widest circulation of any English language newspaper in the world.
So, this book’s been keeping good company for a while, and is now on The Queen’s To-Be-Read pile, alongside Maya Angelou!
Here’s Shreya’s BBC interview this July, from around 1:23:15 to 1:30:20 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j641rn
Shreya Sen-Handley 