iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Diwali season this year is early November, and I’m so excited to offer this yogic practice for women. I’d appreciate you resharing the word. 🙏🏽🤎 Link to register: www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/...

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

no greater gift for birth day/week/month than marking it with my lego-obsessed libra twin (we get our own cakes tho ;). deep gratitude for all the love that buoys us and the blue that surrounds us. 💞🧿

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

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.” 🙏🏽🧿

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

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...

open.substack.com

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.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

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...

narrativelyacademy.com

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.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

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

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

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. 🤎

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

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

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

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 🤎

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

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? 🤎

words in black ink against a beige background

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

“I feel, therefore I can be free.” — Poetry is Not a Luxury, Audre Lorde. To deco|onia| #queerliterature, today and everyday. 🤎🌈🌀

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Bears repeating — for all dads showing up to do the work and move the needle. 🤎🌀 Shared via Threads.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

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.

A four legged animal highlighted through her chakra points.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

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. 🧿🌀

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

#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.

Publication details on my essay on south asian diasporic fiction

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

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... 🙏🏽

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

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. 🧿🩵

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

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 )

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

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. 💗

Author photo & kid against a Californian beach—blue sky and sands

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

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. ❤️‍🩹

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

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.

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Reposted by Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀

Binfire Era @binfire.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Happy Miss Congeniality Day to all who celebrate!

Screenshots from Miss Congeniality. Subtitles read "Describe your perfect date.

That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot and not too cold. All you need is a light jacket."

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

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.

Honors seminar & title description at UCLA.

Honors seminar’s title in de and description for UCLA’s summer 2026 session.

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Reposted by Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀

elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

“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

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Reposted by Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀

Emily Mohn-Slate @mohnslate.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

✨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. ✨

emilymohnslate.substack.com

"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 ✨

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

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. 🧿🪷

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Reposted by Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀

Poets & Writers @pw.org · 25/02/2026

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

at.pw.org

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,…

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

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 🤎

Course details and author photo against a black backdrop

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Reposted by Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

May we stay in the #heartchakra, more often than not. Happy V Day, Community. 💚 (Image credit @thichnhathanhgems)

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I’ll get to the translations later (critique is always a longer story) but for now, I’m in for a cultural performance at a national scale with *zero translation. May all self-expression aspire to this—a refusal to assimilate to the hegemonic gaze. (& icing on the cake if it gets rhythm, Dia says.🏈)

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Joaquin Castro @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning. Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

a dose of winter quiet for whoever needs it today. 🙏🏽🌀

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

resist — *without blocking the heart chakra. 🪷

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

we need allyship in all forms we can get. i’m especially for white male artists calling out the consequences of white male leadership. redistribute the labor that artists of color have carried disproportionately. Bruce Springsteen releases “Streets of Minneapolis” 👇🏾🤍 www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...

npr.org

Bruce Springsteen releases anti-ICE protest song 'Streets of Minneapolis'

On Wednesday, Bruce Springsteen released 'Streets of Minneapolis,' a protest song condemning the violence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Cuz I hold stubbornly a vision for Spring. Vasanth Panchami greetings to all marking the moment. 🙏🏽🤎

Saraswati with veena and swans seated in a river.

My thoughts for Vasanth Panchami as black text against white background.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

To BIPOC seeking help w mental health (more so in the times!) yet falling short, reminder that the system (/medical industrial complex) wasn’t built at its core to serve the global majority. May you be kind to yourself, may you continue to replenish as you give. & yes, healing IS political (too).🙏🏽🌀

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I’m reading it too. & wondering: how many brown kids are breaking reading it? How many are confronting buried selves/stories? Cuz every desi kid I know has been brainwashed early enough: family is everything. Phew. For #ArundhatiRoy fans, this too is a must-read, although Kleenex supplies!

My selfie as a reader and fan holding a copy of Arundhati Roy’s latest book.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I’m so excited to be offering this course @pw.org. Writers: let’s talk Taboo! 🤎👇🏾

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

A question students (oft “minority” ones) ask me often: How do writers pay their bills? It’s like, without knowing this, they won’t give themselves the permission to pursue writing as a consistent *practice. It’s too far-fetched otherwise, writing being the stuff rich kids do. So a course @pw.org 👇🏾🙏🏽

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Joyous New Year to you and yours, Community! 🤎 May we show up responsibly over our brief time on this gorgeous, troubled planet. And yesss to a world with men cleaning up after themselves. 🧿

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Featuring today as a wrap for the year: books from my Fall syllabus (without standalone essays taught), a cliched L.A. prof selfie, or the one stuck in traffic, and reminders to self, should you need it too. May the holidays bring you rest and a joyous transition into 2026! See you next year. 🤎🌀🙏🏽

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

I’ve said this for a while now, including in my essays @pw.org and @literaryhub.bsky.social , but the educator in me cannot repeat this enough. As someone who believes big in the potential of storytelling, I cannot repeat this enough. We must rethink the MFA. 🤎

My thoughts on the MFA in black font against a beige background.

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Early career writers, join me @pw.org. Let’s talk *Taboo! 🤎👇🏾

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Namrata Poddar 🧿🌀 @namratapoddar.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

A lil from my Fall syllabus cuz if you ask me, it’s always a good time to read Arundhati Roy, more so on rainy winter evenings like these. This via her collection of essays, “The End of Imagination,” published in 1998. What changed, I often wonder. Yet a reminder of so much we can.

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