Hello, readers! Under our #KnowTheAuthor series, we are writing about a new author today – Shilpa Raj. She is going to make her debut in the writing industry with her memoir, The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter and you must have read about the same on our platform. Let’s know more about Shilpa Raj now.
Life: Shilpa Raj, born in 1993, comes from a poor family from South India. She was born to an elephant Chaser and that’s why you see the title of her memoir goes by the same name. As she belongs to a Dalit family, it was not usual for the women in the family to get even basic education (forget higher education and college degrees). There are many reasons behind such system and most important of them is the poverty of the parents. They have to manage the family as well as other things and so they become just helpless! However, as it had to be, Shilpa somehow came to Shanti Bhavan, a school for the poor children who are left outside the ambit of ‘civil society’. After her schooling, she also got her graduation and postgraduation degrees and today she is an M.Sc in Psychological Counselling!
Writing Career: Shilpa Raj always desired to be an author or a journalist and she always took pleasure in writing short stories. It led her, at an early age, to write a journal in which she used to write about her life and her family. Eventually, this journal became the foundation for her memoir and today she is ready to be launched as the first ever woman from a backward community in India to write a memoir! Shilpa’s achievement in the form of The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter is remarkable and she has become a role model for all the girls who lose hope because of the circumstances around them! Her writing career is the result of her determination and zeal.
Reception as a Writer: Shilpa Raj has impressed the big names with her very first book and The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter has earner Shilpa very good responses from different parts of the world. Prior to the publication, the institutions like Kirkus Reviews have praised the book. Book critics from India and abroad, celebrities and media houses… all have praised the writing craft of Shilpa Raj and her debut is surely going to be a big one in Indian writing!
Want to know even more about Shilpa? Go to her website and you will find information related to her life and her writings. Here is the link: http://shilpa-raj.com/
