May all walk a road without obstacles. And happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all marking the occasion. Here, a myth/story, sculptural art (gift from Ma), a kidlit fave, and excerpt from my novel, “Border Less.” 🙏🏽🧿
Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀
@namratapoddar.bsky.social
Author of BORDER LESS | Faculty at UCLA | Essays/nonfiction at Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Longreads, LA Times, etc. Interests include Decolonial —> storytelling, parenting, yoga, healing. Desi everything. Writing 2nd book. Intermittently here.
So excited to offer it. Writers wondering how to tell stories that reflect more fully the worlds amd the context of their own characters over another’s, join me @narrativelyacademy.bsky.social! We’re going to have a lot of fun. 🤎 New Class: Decolonial Storytelling open.substack.com/pub/narrativ...
New Class: Decolonial Storytelling
I made this course for writers who’ve ever felt that the “rules” of storytelling weren’t made for the stories they carry—and want to discover what becomes possible when they write beyond them.
open.substack.com
Excited to teach it @narrativelyacademy.bsky.social I’m translating over 2 decades of my work w storytelling & power into a 6-hour workshop so writers can show up for the page w higher agency tw craft & systems of power shaping “good” storytelling. Link: www.narrativelyacademy.com/p/decolonial...
Decolonial Storytelling: A Narrative Toolbox for Writing Across Cultures, Languages and Forms
Explore how writers can challenge Western literary conventions—and discover new possibilities for language, voice, structure and form.
narrativelyacademy.com
My teaching life, as many know, circles around literature, a big love. Then there is this other, as big & old, if not bigger & older love, yoga. Excited to offer this embodied practice in community w Sally Tabib at her gorgeous sound studio in Seal Beach. Link: bit.ly/4fMt1wl #decolonialhealing
Aaah to wake up on a morning to a good news in politics at the highest levels of power ! India’s education minister resigns. The fight is far from over but this is their moment — huge congrats to Gen Z and all protesters in India demanding reform in higher ed & governmental accountability. 🤎
Much solidarity with the fierce “cockroaches,” students, children, academics, activists, and allies protesting in India for higher ed reforms & government accountability. May all stay safe. 🤎🙏🏽 #cjpprotests #azadi
Honored to be awarded California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship & my congrats to Fellows for Region 7 (Orange, Riverside & San Bernardino Counties—all huge!). Gratitude @calartscouncil.bsky.social 🤎
As much as I miss my former life in travels, keeping my ass applied to the chair. And made a list for summer, my fave season in the west. 🧿 Tell me your one/some of your words? 🤎
“I feel, therefore I can be free.” — Poetry is Not a Luxury, Audre Lorde. To deco|onia| #queerliterature, today and everyday. 🤎🌈🌀
Bears repeating — for all dads showing up to do the work and move the needle. 🤎🌀 Shared via Threads.
Happy #InternationalYogaDay to all who got the syllabus that yoga—taught astutely once in the heart of the battlefield—was never about spiritual bypass or easy jingoism. To integration, to interbeing, and to walking the road with eyes open. Namaste.
7.7 years of lived experience distilled into a couple 100 pages & a rudimentary story of love & power—again. After a 17-yr journey w my decolonial novel, I thought ✍🏽 a memoir wld be easier. Ha. This today for #process—or years of toiling before the world can hold something & validate it as work. 🧿🌀
#ImmigrantHeritageMonth is every day but FEW 📚 in honor of June & a consciousness I love--chiseled by bordercrossing, translation, crosscultural agility & awareness that one’s pov is hardly ever the default pov. Includes: Books by migrant peers; those that directly influenced BL; pertinent essays.
As I often tell my students: craft is crucial, thinking critically is crucial, a love of reading is crucial. Yet the above while necessary won’t be sufficient today. & yes, there’s an organic path w all things considered extra, administrative, icky! Join me @pw.org 👇🏾 🔗 www.pw.org/content/work... 🙏🏽
I’ll always love fiction altho after giving it most of my life as writer+educator, deep these days into nonfiction—the memoir (with my WIP), theory obvi ;) & newer 📚 for questions nagging me. From my desk today cuz everyday is #AANHPIheritagemonth. Also, AsAm friendships blooming in real time. 🧿🩵
Honored to see “Border Less” featured here, in excellent company. Thank you @debutiful.bsky.social and @rachellayown.bsky.social for spotlighting polyphonic stories that take risks with form and voice. 🙏🏽🤎 For more on each 📕, visit: debutiful.net/2026/05/18/t... (Images reposted from @debutiful )
Thinking of my beloved mama oceans away, and badass mother figures scattered across the planet. And here with my biggest love and another local one—mothering, getting mothered by this ancient, resplendent, ever-flowing parent. 💗
Mother’s Day greetings to all refusing the propaganda/convenience that care work should be invisible 364 days a year and sentimentalized on the 365th. And big love to all who find today hard. ❤️🩹
Happy #AANHPIHeritageMonth to all celebrating. 🤎 And solidarity hugs to caregivers everywhere — because mother is a verb. If you’re looking for a book recommendation for either occasion, here’s one ;), alongside a glimpse into the vast lineage of #motherwriters to which I’m proud to belong.
Via UCLA’s Honors Program, this is 1 of my favorite courses to teach. We’re reading a badass bunch of writers this summer incldg Robin Wall Kimmerer, Carmen Giménez Smith, Kiese Laymon & Kai Cheng Thom. Help spread the word as we explore the relationship bw storytelling, selfhood & the world beyond.
“In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political, I must listen to the birds. And in order to hear the birds, the warplanes must be silent” - Marwan Makhoul
✨beginner’s mind interview w/ Namrata Poddar(@namratapoddar.bsky.social)⚡If you’ve been feeling intimidated by a larger project, she shares wisdom you might need + reading recs for helping us to decolonize mental health, and to explore what stillness and mindfulness means in this historic moment. ✨
"Staying with the journey"
writer, editor & professor Namrata Poddar on the power of setting small goals, seeing life as a practice, and decolonizing mental health ✨
emilymohnslate.substack.com
Birthday greetings to my firstborn book, “Border Less” — no more a toddler this #womenshistorymonth. And selfie from the day I first held the ARC or a journey of 17 years, cuz in a world where Power is bent on silencing as many as possible, it feels radical to witness *a coming into voice. 🧿🪷
Unlike many professions, literary art doesn’t operate within a strictly capitalist framework of effort versus reward. So, how do writers pay their bills while doing what they love? Check out this workshop with @namratapoddar.bsky.social (grab your spot, it starts tonight!): at.pw.org/taboo
Talking Taboo: Financial Literacy and Sustainability for Writers | Led by Namrata Poddar — Poets & Writers
Unlike many professions, literary art doesn’t operate within a strictly capitalist framework of effort versus reward. A writer’s labor may not produce monetary compensation for years. Craft is key,…
at.pw.org
Writers about to birth a book but aren’t supported by a big PR budget, join me! Or help spread the word? Writing is firstly a creative practice, but there’s so much more to it as a professional path in the 21st century. Excited to offer👇🏾 at @narrativelyacademy.bsky.social 🤎
