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.

Uma Krishnaswami 9/28/21 Uma Krishnaswami 9/28/21

Process Talk: Wah Chen on Escape

9/21/21 9/21/21

Process Talk: Jo Ellen Bogart on Anthony and the Gargoyle

Uma Krishnaswami 9/14/21 Uma Krishnaswami 9/14/21

Climate Change Facts in a Small Package

Uma Krishnaswami 9/7/21 Uma Krishnaswami 9/7/21

Process Talk: Kathi Appelt on Once Upon a Camel, Part 2

Uma Krishnaswami 8/31/21 Uma Krishnaswami 8/31/21

Process Talk: Kathi Appelt on Once Upon a Camel

8/24/21 8/24/21

Magic, Reality and Good, Spare Writing in Ninth Ward

Uma Krishnaswami 8/17/21 Uma Krishnaswami 8/17/21

How Does a Book Begin?

Uma Krishnaswami 7/20/21 Uma Krishnaswami 7/20/21

End of summer blog break

Uma Krishnaswami 7/13/21 Uma Krishnaswami 7/13/21

Sarah Ellis is in a Flap

My friend and former VCFA colleague Sarah Ellis is in a flap about words. That is to say, a BookFlap mini-masterclass, BookFlap being a new collaborative site launched by four Canadian writers and authors of books for young readers--Vicki Grant, Teresa Toten, Marthe Jocelyn, and Kathy Kacer.

7/6/21 7/6/21

On Canada Day and the Fourth of July

I can't imagine such a thing happening in the US but the city I live in now, Victoria, British Columbia, has canceled celebrations this year for the day that commemorates Canadian confederation, the day that is often thought of as "Canada's birthday." It marks a call to make reconciliation become something real, something more than just saying the right words.

Beth-Alison Berggren 6/29/21 Beth-Alison Berggren 6/29/21

Virtual Conference on Access to Books

End Book Deserts is a nonprofit group advocating for children who don’t have access to “age-appropriate books, high-quality reading materials, and book culture.” I see myself more as a grateful ally than an expert in this area, but I do feel strongly enough about kids needing books that I wrote a chapter book about such a kid.

Beth-Alison Berggren 6/22/21 Beth-Alison Berggren 6/22/21

Channeling Fear

What happens when fear for a place you love moves you enough that you’re willing to give your life for it?

6/15/21 6/15/21

Accent on an Apology

Apu of the Simpsons was a thorn in my side for years. That fake Indian accent made my skin crawl. What was worse, my white colleagues and friends seemed to think it was hilarious and then they’d suddenly grow thoughtful and say, “Hey, so how come you don’t have an accent?” What layers of that was I supposed to take on? I have the vocabulary ofr it in 2021. I didn’t back then.

6/8/21 6/8/21

A Story About–What? Everything?

Yes. Everything. "A Story About Everything" is how this professor, Arti Dhand, describes The Mahabharata in her pandemic project, a podcast with 15-20 minute episodes that herds listeners onto the convoluted trail of this ancient story.

Uma Krishnaswami 6/1/21 Uma Krishnaswami 6/1/21

Process Notes: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Sisters of the Neversea

This is not the first time my gifted VCFA colleague and longtime friend, Cynthia Leitich Smith, has held conversations with the literary canon. Her Tantalize series is an ongoing bestselling heart-to-heart over several volumes with Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Uma Krishnaswami 5/25/21 Uma Krishnaswami 5/25/21

Guest Post: Nandini Bajpai on Sister of the Bollywood Bride

Nandini Bajpai was my student years ago when I taught classes on writing for children on writers.com. (Aside: I’m happy to see that VCFA graduate Kelly Bingham teaches there now.)

Uma Krishnaswami 5/18/21 Uma Krishnaswami 5/18/21

Wordplay and Profiteering: Fran Wilde on The Ship of Stolen Words

The Ship of Stolen Words blends humor and wordplay with eccentric magic. How about this for starters? A group of goblins steals a boy’s ability to use a magic word: “sorry.” And we’re off on an adventure involving goblin technology, miniature pigs, a couple of friends temporarily at odds, a Little Free Library, and more.

Uma Krishnaswami 5/11/21 Uma Krishnaswami 5/11/21

Process Talk: Rita Williams-Garcia on A Sitting in St. James

Once in a while you find a book that makes you stop and reread passages for the power of their words.

Uma Krishnaswami 5/4/21 Uma Krishnaswami 5/4/21

Guest Post: Terry Nichols on Real-life Setting in The Dreaded Cliff

From my friend of many years and one-time park ranger at Aztec Ruins National Monument, Terry Nichols, here’s a delightful middle grade that Kirkus called “linguistically rich and frequently humorous.”

Uma Krishnaswami 4/27/21 Uma Krishnaswami 4/27/21

Unheeded Warning: The Village Where the Chipko Movement Began

Years ago, I wanted to write a children’s book about the Chipko movement, an astonishing story of love and clarity. In the story, 18th century people of the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan in northern India, led by their women, hugged their trees to prevent them from being cut down, because they knew the value of that forest and didn’t want it to be sacrificed to a king’s ignorant ambition.