Anita Nahal, Ph.D., CDP, is a two-time (2022, 23) Pushcart Prize-nominated Indian American poet. An academic and author, Anita has one novel, four poetry collections, one of flash fiction, four for children, and five edited anthologies published. Her third poetry collection, What’s wrong with us Kali women? (Kelsay, 2021) was nominated by Cyril Dabydeen as the best poetry book, 2021 for British Ars Notoria, and is mandatory reading in a multicultural society course at Utrecht University. Her just released prose-poetry genre collaborative novel, drenched thoughts is also prescribed in the same course and university. In 2023 she was a finalist for the Rabindranath Tagore literary prize.
Anita’s poems have appeared in numerous journals in the US, UK, Asia, and Australia and anthologized in many collections, including The Polaris Trilogy, slated to be sent to the moon in the Space X launch. Her poems are also housed at Stanford University’s Digital Humanities Initiative. Nahal’s poetry is part of a 2023 anthology released by India’s National Academy of Letters, the Sahitya Akademi, Mapping the Mind, Mapping the Map- Twenty Contemporary Indian English Poets.
Anita is the secretary of the Montgomery Chapter, Maryland Writers Association and former editor of the newsletter, Poetry Society of Virginia. She teaches at the University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC. Anita is the daughter of Sahitya Akademi award-winning Indian novelist and professor, Late Dr. Chaman Nahal, and educationist Late Dr. Sudarshna Nahal. Originally from New Delhi, India, Anita Nahal resides in the US. Her family include her son, daughter-in-law, and their golden doodle. More on her at: www.anitanahal.com
