Rochelle Potkar's Blog, page 4

My TEDx Talk on the Crucibles for Creative-writing.

My TEDx Talk is out!
Weaving through fables, I pay tribute to crucial crucibles and their architects from Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP) to the Himalayan Writing Retreat Uttarakhand, to Dosti House (American Library, Mumbai US Consulate), to Screenwriter’s Association (SWA), to the publishers of poetry, to literary journals that platform new voices: all this being the literary villages that helped me/us become the poets, authors, and screenwriters we were always meant to me.

[There were so many more names I wanted to quote but for time-limits, memory-limits.]

Thanking the faculty and students of TEDxKESShroffCollege for organizing and hosting this!

‘Ali Guli Mane’ shortlisted @SCRIPTORS Short Film Script Contest 2025.

What delightful news!
My short film script ‘Ali Guli Maane’ is on the SCRIPTORS Shortlist of the Short Film Script Contest 2025.

SCRIPTORS says:
And here it is… the moment we’ve all been waiting for!
After weeks of reading, re-reading we’re thrilled to announce the shortlist for Scriptors Short Film Script Competition 2025.

Each selected script reflects the depth, emotion, and brilliance that storytelling has to offer — raw, rooted, and truly resonant.

Thank you to everyone who poured their hearts into their stories. This is just the beginning. The final winners will be announced soon. Till then enjoy this moment.

Cinema starts with a script — and the future looks bright.

Drama Queens (play), 27 April, Chennai.

KATTU KADHAI
a collection of 6 thamizh plays
of which the play ‘Drama Queens’ written by me unfurls too
(based on my short story ‘Catharsis’).

Directed by Vyashali Jeevu.
Enacted by Malavika Reshmi & Keerthana PV

27th April | 4 pm – 6 pm | @Medai

This program is not to be missed!
Kattu Kadhai by @theatre_raabaysaamay.
Location @medai.thestage
Book your tickets for Kattu Kadhai on townscript.

https://www.townscript.com/e/kattu-kadhai-001414

Coins in Rivers: 2 prize-nominations, 2025.

Book Review: Coins in Rivers by Dr. Bhawna Vij Arora in IIS University of Jaipur’s Journal of Arts.

Very glad to see Dr. Bhawna Vij Arora‘s review of my book Coins in Rivers appear in the January 2025, IIS University of Jaipur’s Journal of Arts, Vol 14: Issue 1. Thank you for this unique take on the book and its poems! Thank you, IIS!

My TEDx Talk @KES Shroff College, Mumbai

In my TEDx Talk, I had the honor of paying tribute to a few segments of the Indian literature landscape – independent publishers, journals and magazines, my most beloved residency: Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP), Himalayan Writing Retreat (HWR), Dosti House, and the Screenwriters Association (SWA).

Thank you, Maryam, the faculty, and students of KES Shroff College @Tedxkesshroffcollege for inviting me and for such smooth organization and warm hospitality.

Thank you TEDx Talk.

‘Catharsis’ – my play features in Usawa, Issue 12.

Issue 12 of Usawa is special in more ways than one.

Read it to find out. Your recommended December must-read.

Besides it also features ‘Catharsis’, my play, shortlisted at the 2023 International Literary Prize, Hammond House, UK, & Shortlisted at the Short + Sweet South India 2024 Theatre Festival for staging in Tamil in September at Prakriti Foundation, Chennai by Director Vyshali Jeevu, enacted remarkably by actors: Malavika Reshmi S. and Keerthana PV.

Thank you Editor-in-Chief Smita Sahay and the robust editorial team of Usawa for always envisaging issues of sheer vision and brilliance.

https://www.usawa.in/issue-12/fiction-12/catharsis/

Me@Jai Hind College, December 2024.

Thank you Saumya Jain for the invitation.

Gearing up for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2024.

Reposted from: @thukralandtagra

Serendipity is delighted to announce an all-new project “Poems on the Move” co-curated by Salil Chaturvedi @salilwheels + @thukralandtagra as a part of @Multiplay_saf
An intimate and experimental poetic encounter that turns a quintessentially mundane urban experience—a cab ride—into a journey of poetic discovery. Live poetry readings and immersive recitations within moving shuttles weave verse into the fabric of daily life. Poetry becomes a companion on the road, blurring the lines between routine and reverie, solitude and connection. The aim is to create unique, transient spaces where individuals come together in unexpected moments of wonder, reshaping how we perceive both poetry and the urban journey.
Featuring super talented poets:
Anamika Joshi @battokibakwaasAsavari Gurav @asavariguravDeepali Sutar @_deepali_sutarDaras @daras.natureMamata Verlekar @mamata_verlekarRochelle D’Silva @rochelledsilvapoetRochelle Potkar @rochellepotkar
5-7 pm, 15-22nd December

Only on Six special Serendipity shuttles

Catch a different poet every day!

My visit to the NFDC Film Bazaar 2024, Goa.

Bookended by Goa, this November – December 2024.
November: NFDC Film Bazaar (@filmbazaarindia)December: Serendipity Arts Festival | Poets on the Move(@serendipityartsfestival)
At the wonderful Goa Film Bazaar, running through back-to-back meetings I am glad the ace photographer Assavri Kulkarni spotted me and captured me into her lovely page in Peacock – the  official newspaper for International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Quarterly cultural magazine by ESG. Thank you!
To read all the issues of the deliciously curated and written Peacock, go here: https://www.iffigoa.org/index.php/media/the-peacock

Publisher: Asvin Chandru for the Entertainment Society of Goa | Cover Artist: Sagar Naik Mule | Editors: Sachin Chatte, Michael Praveen, Karishma D’Mello, Siddhartha Lall, Vivek Menezes; Columnists: Damodar Mauzo, Vincent D’Souza, Govit Morajkar | Writers: Jane Borges, Kinjal Sethia, Poulomi Das, Tino de Sá, Pankhuri Zaheer, Chandrahas Choudhury, Sanskar Sahu, Rohan Menezes, Lead Photographer: Assavri Kulkarni | Illustrators: Pakhi Sen, Sayali Khairnar | Intern: Nayan Menezes | Distribution: Rutik Naik