Amit Shankar (born 15 November 1973) is an advertising professional-turned-author. Currently based out of Gurgaon, Shankar has written five fiction titles, and authored and edited two international poetry collections. His short stories have been adapted into films, plays and skits.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] His titles have represented contemporary Indian fiction at Frankfurt Book Fair and the Beijing Book Fair.[8]

Amit Shankar, author and poet

Early life and education edit

Shankar was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. He completed his schooling from St. Joseph's College, Allahabad and then moved to Delhi for further studies. He holds a post-graduate degree in Commerce from University of Delhi.[9]

Early career edit

Shankar began his advertising career by joining McCann Erickson. He has worked at companies like Publicis Groupe, Wunderman, Solutions [10] and Dentsu. His clientele included: Nestle, GM, Microsoft, Cisco, WHO, Pedigree and USAID.

Shankar has also worked at the Canadian company Nortel Networks. After which he joined Sparrow , an animation agency, as the CEO of the company.

Writing edit

He quit his job to focus full-time on his writing career because he was missing lessons and morals in contemporary writing.[11][12]

His first fiction title Flight of the Hilsa (2010) explores the meaning of happiness through the character of Avantika Sengupta, a young Bengali painter.[1][5][11] The novel garnered critical acclaim and has represented the contemporary Indian fiction at the Frankfurt and Beijing Book Fair in 2014.[5][1][11]

His second fiction title, Chapter 11 (2011), is a commentary on the urban conflict and suggests answers to day-to-day complex issues.[4][5] Love is Vodka – A Shot Ain’t Enough (2012), Shankar’s third book, explores the confusion around the word love.[5]

Café Latte (2014), a collection of 18 short stories, was registered in the Limca Book of Records for being the first book launched with a film on one of the stories.[13][14]

The book surveys various hues of death.[2][5][15]

Never Alone, Always Lonely is an international poetry coffee table book where fifty of his poems have been interpreted by 12 artists, both from India and abroad.[5]

[16] His latest offering, Uberlegen [17] is his first thriller. It traces a secret WW2 genetic formula that has gone missing.[18]

Others edit

Shankar is the founder of The Great Indian Literary Festival[19] [20] It focuses on bringing Indian literature in regional languages to the fore.[21][22] Its Season1 and 2 were held in Udaipur in 2017 and 2018.[5][23][24][25]

He believes that Hindi has to play a crucial role in unifying the nation and therefore it has to be promoted both in terms of content and reach.[26]

During its Season 4, writers, poets and artists from Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Switzerland also joined.[27][28]

He is also the founder of House of Lions, a brand and communication consultancy with offices in India and France.[29][30][31]

As a guest speaker and visiting faculty he visits corporate, design and management institutes.[32][33]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Kumar, Anuj (23 November 2010). "Don't fish for happiness!". thehindu.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Sudhakar, Kripa (21 August 2014). "Moon News - ABC hosts the National launch of Amit Shankar's Cafe Latte". Retrieved 16 December 2016 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "Author's Corner". www.newdelhiworldbookfair.gov. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Authors" (PDF). nbtindia.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Speakers - Utkal Literature Festival". ulf.net.in. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Amit Shankar". Archived from the original on 2017-06-03.
  7. ^ "'Unlike most of our metropolitan cities, Gurugram has no baggage from past'". Hindustan Times. 2018-09-19. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  8. ^ "Barodian's book picked for two international book fairs". The Times of India. October 30, 2014. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  9. ^ "Mr. Amit Shankar". 31 July 2013. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  10. ^ "Digitas | New Delhi, India". www.digitas.com. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  11. ^ a b c "'Flight of the Hilsa': Demystifying Definition of Happiness". outlookindia.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  12. ^ "An Interview with Amit Shankar - Author of Love is Vodka, Flight to Hilsa and Chapter Eleven". spiderorbit.com. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  13. ^ "First book launched with a film on one of the stories". Limcabookofrecords.in. 2014-08-19. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2017-01-10.
  14. ^ "First Book Launched With a Film on One of The Stories". The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  15. ^ "Amit Shankar's 'Cafe Latte' finds a spot in 'Limca Book of Records'". Creative Yatra. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  16. ^ "amit-shankar-book-launch-uber-legen". creativeyatra.com. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  17. ^ "amit-shankar-book-launch-uber-legen". Creative Yatra. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  18. ^ "Vishnu Amit Shankar Archives". Vishwakarma Publications. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  19. ^ "12 distinctive festivals of India one must visit before dying !". Creative Yatra. Archived from the original on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  20. ^ "Kumaon Literary Festival". kumaonliteraryfestival.org. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  21. ^ "कुछ साहित्यकारों ने देश को पीछे धकेला, लिखती नहीं आक्रोश व्यक्त करते हैं लोग". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  22. ^ "Converge, An Indo-Hungarian Poetry Rendezvous | Suburb". 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  23. ^ "TGILF". TGILF. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09.
  24. ^ "Creative Yatra". Archived from the original on 2017-01-31.
  25. ^ "TGILF on YouTube". YouTube.
  26. ^ "Is Hindi Back Among The Millennial? | Suburb". September 14, 2021.
  27. ^ "4th Edition of TGILF-India's Only Regional Literature Festival For Two Days From 9th-10th Jan". Global Governance News. 2021-01-10. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  28. ^ "Regional By Design, Global By reach | Suburb". 2021-01-13. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  29. ^ Bureau, MN4U (2023-09-29). "Mavcomm Consulting, House of Lions enter into strategic partnership". MediaNews4U. Retrieved 2023-10-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Desk, Mediabrief News (2023-09-29). "Mavcomm Consulting and House of Lions partner to bolster brand and reputation management". MediaBrief. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  31. ^ "Mavcomm & House of Lions forge partnership". MxMIndia. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  32. ^ "Mr. Amit Shankar". 31 July 2013. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  33. ^ SpeakIn. "Amit Shankar | SpeakIn Expert Speaker". www.speakin.co. Retrieved 2021-03-25.