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Sita Brahmachari
Red Leaves author Sita Brahmachari was BookTrust's 12th Writer in Residence, beginning her time in the role in February 2015 and using her blogs to champion diversity in children's books.
Sita Brahmachari was born in Derby in 1966 to an Indian father from Kolkata, India and an English mother from the Lake District. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Arts Education.
Her many projects and writing commissions have been produced in theatres, universities, schools and community groups throughout Britain and America. Sita has lectured on intra-culturalism and Arts Education and her writing has been published in a number of journals and in On the Subject of Drama (Routledge).
Sita's plays include touring productions by Tamasha Theatre Company including Lyrical MC and scripting and co-creating an adaptation of Sean Tan's graphic novel The Arrival for Tamasha Theatre Company (published by Bloomsbury).
Her first book for Macmillan Children's Books Artichoke Hearts won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and was selected for the BookTrust Booked Up scheme in 2011. In 2014 it was selected as one of the top 50 books in cultural diversity since the 1950s by The Guardian.
Its sequel, Jasmine Skies was published in 2012 and was also nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her critically acclaimed novel, Kite Spirit published in May 2013 was nominated for the UKLA Book Award.
Her fourth novel, Red Leaves, published in September 2014, was endorsed by Amnesty International UK as a book to enhance understanding of human rights. Red Leaves was also on the Redbridge Book Award Longlist for 2015. Sita's fondly received novel for Barrington Stoke, Brace Mouth, False Teeth, was also published in 2014 and was included in Julia Eccleshare's picks for readers with dyslexia.
Sita has been Patron of Reading at Fortismere School since 2012 and regularly visits schools, community groups, libraries and festivals offering talks and creative writing workshops. She lives and works in North London with her husband, three children and dog Billie!
On becoming Writer in Residence, she said:
'It feels as we have entered a time when there is a real consciousness that we need to have a wide range of stories and characters that are more reflective of our population. Through this blog I'll try to contribute my own and other's diverse voices to this movement.'
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Artichoke Hearts
This empathetic account of the process of bereavement, a month’s diary, reassures readers that we grow from our experiences, however painful they are.
Jasmine Skies
Following from Brahmachari's debut novel, Artichoke Hearts, this a thoughtful, tender and uplifting novel, which continues the story of Mira, now two years older, as she negotiates challenging new experiences, the complexities of family and friendship, and the uncertainty of teenage love.
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