Interview with House of Books and Tales Library, Jaipur
Talking about my writing journey and process
Chatting with the Cosy Nook librarians
Chatting with Radhika Sathe Mantri, Anitha Murthy and Sudeshna Shome Ghosh (the three founders of Cosy Nook Library) about representation and diversity in children’s literature, why I love libraries and my new book for emerging readers
Interview with Shyamala Shanmugasundaram of Kahani Takbak
Talking about my new book, The Grand Chapati contest
Interview with Ayushree Nandan of Katha publishers
“Talking about inclusive and diverse books and the need for strong female protagonists in children’s fiction”
Talking about my book Behind the Lie
Talking about the process of writing a story on Domestic Violence for Pratham Books. And working with marvellous collaborator-illustrator Aindri Chakraborty
Chatting with author-editor Bijal Vaccharajani on where stories come from
Speaking about my journey as a writer, submitting my first manuscripts, working with different editors and illustrators and reflecting on children’s literature in India.
Chit Chat with the Goodbooks Team
Talking about how to use chapter books to encourage reading. A list of my favourite funny books and the three ‘diverse ‘ books that every library must have.
Interviewed by Arundhati Venkatesh of Saffron Tree
Chatting about how I started writing, whether books for children should touch upon the harsh realities of life and the marketing of children’s books.
“One of the best times I had was with the children in a school in Chennai. They had made me a bottle of ‘Wondergro Supersonic Hair Tonic.” (from my book Mystery of The Secret Hair-Oil Formula) and drawn a picture of the formula from the book. Seeing how delighted I was, they felt it was wise to caution me not to actually use the hair oil because it was made from food colouring. That was really memorable.”
“Asha Nehemiah has lived, studied and worked in 8 different cities and small towns including one where the postman delivered letters which had nothing more than the person’s name on the envelope!”
Interviewed by R’s Mom of Indian Moms Connect
“Asha Nehemiah is some kind of a magician. She has written so many books for children across so many age groups, that its difficult to slot her into a children’s book author or a tween book author or a young adults book author. She writes with a kind of flair which reminds you of so many things you have read in your childhood and yet with a kind of freshness which makes you want to change the pages of the books quickly.”
Interviewed by Sravasti Datta for The Hindu
Asha always keeps a notepad handy to scribble down any idea that might catch her fancy. “I get ideas from everywhere — while travelling, conversing with interesting people or overhearing snatches of conversation, which often leads to a story emerging naturally.”
Freewheeling chat with Vimala Malhotra (founder of Hippocampus Library) for the Duckbill blog
VM: I absolutely love the crazy concoctions that you have dreamed up from Aunt Malu’s workshop and would personally love a can of each of those magical paints. Who needs TV and surround sound when they can just opt for these paints! Did your love of baking contribute to the most exotic ingredients that go into making Aunt Malu’s herbal products?
AN: Psst, I do have a secret stash of some of these concoctions and if you’re up to some adventure, I could share a bottle or two with you! Ha, ha. More seriously, I do love the idea of putting strange things together with unexpected results. I also love the idea of mundane commonplace things behaving in bizarre and surprising ways. Yes, I love baking but have yet to include some of the exotic ingredients Aunt Malu uses like: pineapple prickles and whispery onions skins.
Interviewed by Sneha Caroline of Hippocampus
Talking about encouraging children to read.
“Children today have many more options for entertainment than ever before: TV, movies, internet, games, apps! So if I want a child to read my book, it had better be as entertaining as any of her other choices – ideally it should offer a child something more satisfying.”
Interviewed by Sanjana Chakrovorty in The Hindu for Schools
“Meet Asha Nehemiah. This popular Bangalore based writer is the author of a melange of wacky, quirky, and hilarious stories for elementary and middle school children.”
Asha Nehemiah 