Writing With a Broken Tusk
Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. The blog name refers to the mythical pact made between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House and still miraculously in print.
Since March 2024, Jen Breach (writer, VCFA graduate, and former student) has helped me manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog. They have lined up and conducted author/illustrator interviews and invited and coordinated guest posts. That support has helped me get through weeks when I’ve been in edit-copyedit-proofing mode, and it’s also introduced me to writers and books I might not have found otherwise. Our overlapping interests have led to posts for which I might not have had the time or attention-span. It’s the beauty of shared circles.
Process Talk: Pooja Makhijani on Bread Is Love
My writing path has crossed Pooja Makhijani’s many times since I first came across her essay, "The First Time," in the November/December 2003 issue of Cicada magazine, an essay for which she won that year’s SCBWI Magazine Award Honor in Nonfiction. years later, we chatted about the first Asian American to win the Newbery Medal—Dhan Gopal Mukerji, in 1928. That conversation and others led to her terrific article in The Atlantic on the implications, of this forgotten history of American children’s literature. Pooja’s picture book, Mama’s Saris, captured the delights of dressing up, the allure of beautiful fabric and the longing of a little girl to celebrate identity in her own way. Now another picture book, Bread is Love, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu, similarly blends sensory moments with the delicious warmth of shared family connections. Welcome to WWBT, Pooja!