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Usha Akella

Timeline (1967 - )

Poems by Usha Akella
Books

Usha Akella's work has appeared and is upcoming in many US and Indian based journals such as Borderlands, Cumberland Review, The Crab Orchard Review, The Maryland Poetry Review, Pearl, Emily Dickinson Journal, Catamaran, Muse India, Ardent! Di-verse-city, Kavya Bharati etc., She was the winner of Maryland Poetry Review's Egan Memorial Contest, and a finalist in the past for the Wisconsin University Press contest. Her poem 'One hears,' was nominated for the Pushcart from Emily Dickinson review, 'e.' Her first book of poems “ŠKali Dances. So Do IŠ” was published in India by Authors and Writers India Ltd. (Book release party held at AAWW, NYC.) Kali Dances is reading material for an Asian American Literature course at Smith College. She has read extensively in the US and India. She has received the honor of being invited to participate in the Struga Poetry evenings, the oldest world poetry festival held in the Republic of Macedonia, 2006. She won the 2006 Wine poem award there, the first non-Macedonian woman to do so in 45 years.

In October 2003, Usha Akella launched an organization called the Poetry Caravan in Westchester County, NY, as an initiative of Greenburgh Town hall. Essentially, her idea was to provide free poetry readings and writing workshops to people who may not be able to access such opportunities by themselves. Through Decemberl 2006, the Poetry Caravan will have offered more than 180 readings and 10 writing workshops at nursing homes, senior centers, women's shelters, healthcare facilities etc. The Poetry Caravan has received a fair amount of press coverage (including the New York Times,) awards, and grants in a short span of time. She received the supporter of the arts award, 2004, from the Town of Greenburgh, a yearly award in recognition of an individual who supports and fosters the arts.
In March 2005 the poetry caravan released an anthology titled en(compass), with an introduction by former Poet Laureate Billy Collins and blurbs by Li-Young Lee, Margo Stever and Kathleen Ossip. The book is published by Yuganta Press, CT, and showcases 32 poets from the poetry caravan. A number of readings were lined up at local colleges, organizations and libraries like Manhattanville College, PACE, and Hudson Valley Writers Center.

Usha's second body of poetry ("A face that does not bear the footprints of the world") has been described as Sufi in orientation and she has shared her Sufi poetry with audiences at CUNY, Omega Institute, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Abode of the message, Sufi Books, and many sites in India including the Poetry Society of Hyderabad. She is one of the rare poets writing Sufi poetry in English, and she is often accompanied by Steve Gorn, the internationally known flautist on the bansuri and clarinet whose work was featured in Born into Brothels. Together, they have released a CD titled 'Mulaqaat,' The Meeting.

Poems by Usha Akella

En(compass): The Poetry Caravan Anthology, by Usha Akella

Amazon.com

Kali Dances, So Do I...: Poems, by Usha Akella

Amazon.com

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