ROHINI CHOWDHURY, WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
Rohini brings a compelling blend of literary and business skills to the mentoring table, combining twenty-five years of literary success as a published author and translator with a world-class business education and consulting experience.
She also has extensive experience teaching creative writing, and mentoring and facilitating aspiring writers.
Born and educated in India, and now living and writing in the United Kingdom, she is familiar with the cultures of both East and West. She is also widely travelled, and brings a translator’s ear to the nuances of global English.
HONOURS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Judge, Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize, American Literary Translators’ Association, February 2026.
Recipient, Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant, Arts Council England, 2025-26
Assessor, PEN Presents, 2025
Amazon Editor’s Picks for Children for summer, 2017: Panchatantra (Penguin Random House 2017) translated by Rohini Chowdhury.
Shortlisted, Best Book: Non-Fiction category of The Hindu-Young World-Goodbooks Award, 2016: Verghese Kurien: The Milkman of India (Scholastic 2014) by Rohini Chowdhury.
Runner-up, Best Youth Film, Lab Film Festival, London, 2013: Granny’s Monster Machines, a bilingual Bengali-English film developed and scripted by Rohini Chowdhury.
Runner-up, New Writer Prose and Poetry Competition, UK, 2001: ‘Kosi’ (Penguin India 2001), short story by Rohini Chowdhury.
TESTIMONIALS: WHAT THE WRITERS SAY
LAXMI NAIR (MUMBAI, 2026)
“At some point in 2025, I decided to write a book. I'd never really written for an audience before and was clueless about what it really meant to write. That's when I met Rohini.
“What struck me from the beginning was her calm, empathetic stance. She's done this many times before and she understands what it means to be a writer — the uncertainty, the insecurity, the isolating ups and downs. She helped me realise that it's totally normal.
“Rohini gave me confidence in my voice and helped me craft a clear why and an approach to writing. Through our conversations I understood that I needed to write first and figure everything else out later. She helped me find chapter rhythm and the mental state I needed to actually sit down and write. That clarity has been a gift.
“I'm now in the process of completing the manuscript, and I'm definitely going back to her for edits.”
VIJAY SANTHANAM (SINGAPORE, 2026)
“Rohini Chowdhury is a highly successful and prolific writer – from children’s books to translating epics. I am delighted that now she is taking on another pivotal role in publishing, that of a mentor and advisor to writers.
“As an author who has had his books published by HarperCollins and Hay House, I know how much value a good editor can add in the process from a manuscript to a published book.
”Over the recent years, I have written a few articles in English on the great Tamil poets, edited and published by Rohini. It was a great experience working with her. Rohini understood the context and content of my writing despite the fact that she herself doesn’t know Tamil. Rohini truly immersed herself into the work and suggested various changes in the language, flow and tone, all of which helped to make the articles far better than how I had originally written.
“Based on my experience, I have no doubt that both debut authors and established writers will find Rohini’s counsel and mentoring of great help through the journey from an idea to a published work.”
Vijay Santhanam is a retired marketer and business leader. In his 21 years of corporate career, he worked with Godrej, P&G and BP. He is the author of three books and was a visiting professor at IIM Lucknow. He is an ardent fan of Bharathi.
ASHA MAHESHWARI (GURGAON, 2026)
“My parents were very special persons. I decided to write their biographies — as a tribute to their memory on their centenaries, and as a record of family history for future generations. I wrote and created two books with Rohini. The first book, my father’s life-story, we self-published in 2010; the second, my mother’s story, we self-published in 2017.
“Rohini was involved in the process from beginning to end, from the initial thinking and structuring, to helping with the publishing of the final manuscripts.
“She helped select and organise the material we had. This included letters, photographs, and write-ups contributed by my siblings as well as from members of the extended family. Many of the photos were old and damaged — with Rohini’s help, these were digitally repaired and restored.
“Rohini also helped create several family trees; these depicted the core family as well as extended family over several generations. This was a complex and time-consuming task.
“"Her editorial advice was invaluable in structuring the book. She also helped in evaluating various self-publishing options and platforms.
“Each book took almost two years to complete. These books could not have been done without Rohini. We enjoyed working together.”
ZUKISWA WANNER (JOHANNESBURG, 2026)
“Co-editing Behind the Shadows with Rohini was a dream collaboration. Her work ethic and ability to work ahead of deadlines mirrored mine while her ability to plan for any and all eventualities filled me with admiration and were learning lessons for me. All this was done in a comradely manner with lots of shared excitement on some of our favourite stories essentially making her the platinum standard for any co-editor I have since worked with in other literary endeavours.”
Zukiswa Wanner is an award winning South African author, curator, editor, and publisher.
Rohini and Zukiswa co-edited the short story collection, Behind the Shadows (Amazon Kindle, October 2012). They read through almost two hundred short stories submitted by writers across Asia and Africa to select the 21 stories that make up the anthology. The collection includes Penguin-shortlisted author Isabella Morris, Caine Prize-shortlisted writer Lauri Kubuitsile, and Singaporean Young Artist Award recipient author and poet, Felix Cheong.
MENTORING & WRITING FACILITATION | THE CALLIOPE MODULAR SYSTEM | MEET YOUR MENTOR & TESTIMONIALS
