Shweta Taneja is an award-winning, bestselling author who writes science and fiction for all ages. With seven novels, one science book and many short stories and articles, she is a leading voice in feminist science fiction and science communication. Her latest novel is Kungfu Aunty Versus Garbage Monsters.
Her science fiction story The Daughter That Bleeds (translated in French as ‘La Fille qui saigne’ by Mikael Cabon) was a finalist in the prestigious French award Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (France) and won the Editor’s Choice Award (Singapore) for best Asian science fiction. She has also received the Charles Wallace Writing Fellowship (UK).
She has been awarded the Publishing Next Award (India), was a finalist in AutHer Award (India) and Valley of Words Award (India) for her bestselling flipbook on Indian scientists, They Made What? They Found What? For The Skull Rosary, a graphic novel on India deity Shiva, she received Best Writer Award in ComicCon (India).
Her other bestselling works include graphic novel Krishna: Defender of Dharma and the critically-acclaimed fantasy fiction series Anantya Tantrist Mysteries. The latter and her novel How to Steal A Ghost @ Manipal have been optioned by an international film producer.
Her work has been translated to Romanian, Kannada, Italian, French and Dutch. She has given talks at Cartoon Museum (London), Eurocon (France), Worldcon (Dublin) and numerous places in her home country India.
While drinking tea, she often ponders on how we can bridge the gap between science and society through stories so we may collectively tackle modern challenges like climate emergency. Follow her online through her handle @shwetawrites or see her bibliography.
When Shweta’s not writing fiction…
She is an avid traveller, collector of folklore and urban legends and pens down articles on travel, writing, science, technology and delectable conspiracy theories. You can find her work in Livemint, Discover India, Huffington Post, Scroll.in, DailyO.in, and Medium.
She also works on future of internet and open-source technologies as a brand and technology storyteller with startups. She cofounded Cooby, a startup building open-source, blockchain-based ERP systems in Switzerland and is an advisor to Buzz India, a financial empowerment NGO for rural women. Currently, she is working at Nature Conservation Foundation an environmental research organisation based in Bengaluru to encourage storytelling in environmental and climate communication. (LinkedIn)
Where to go next
- Read what she writes. Excerpts – Novels – Short stories – Articles
- Be a detective. See what Shweta’s doing now or what awards she has received and what the media is saying about her work.
- Get free stuff. Learn the skill of writing novels here or get inspired by the many facets of life to write and create more.
- Conspire to travel. Read some delectable conspiracies she found during her travels. Like a princess with three breasts or a theory of Jesus backpacking through India.