Meghna Pant

Born in Shimla, Pant is the sister of stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant.[3]

One & a Half Wife (Westland, 2012) – her debut novel – won the national Muse India Young Writer Award (2014) and was shortlisted for several other awards, including the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.[4]

Pant's debut collection of short stories Happy Birthday[1] (Random House, 2013) was long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Award (2014).[5]

Her second short story collection The Trouble Book with Women (Juggernaut, 2016) is considered by one commentator to be a landmark in feminist writing[6] and was described as 'the best book from Juggernaut' by The Hindu Business Line.[7]

Pant published her first non-fiction book Feminist Rani (Penguin Random House, 2018)[8] that features interviews with Kalki Koechlin, Gurmehar Kaur, Tanmay Bhat, Gul Panag and Aditi Mittal, among others.[9] Her second non-fiction book How To Get Published in India (Bloomsbury, 2019) is India's first and only guide to publishing in India.[10] It was reviewed favourably by major publications like the Times of India, Hindu, Free Press Journal, Indian Express and Mumbai Mirror.[11] Pant has a forthcoming book: THE HOLY 100 (Rupa, 2018).[12]

Pant's short stories have been published in Avatar Review,[13] Wasafari, Eclectica,[14] and QLRS.,[15] as well as in several anthologies including Namita Gokhale's The Himalayan Arc, where her story Boongthing was critically praised by many publications like The Hindu and Hindustan Times.[16][17]

Among India's five gutsy women making powerful personal statements - The Hindustan Times[18]

25 witty, sharp and fearless women to follow on Twitter - SheThePeople[19]

An honest, intelligent, insightful and downright feminist - GirlHQ[6]

Pant curates a monthly panel discussion in Mumbai called 'Feminist Rani'[20] and anchors various women-centric shows for the news portal FirstPost.[21][22]

Pant has been a speaker and moderator at events where she interviews women who have reportedly broken glass ceilings in various walks of life. She has ostensibly taken a strong feminist stance in her writing.[23]

Pant has written on issues including consent, rape,[24] domestic violence, miscarriage,[25] surrogacy, body-shaming[26] and public safety for women for various prominent publications. A physical abuse survivor, she has spoken at several platforms, including TEDx, on her personal experience, urging women to speak out against domestic violence. She is credited for having popularised the phrase "Stop The Silence. Stop The Violence".[27]

Pant chaired India's first #MeToo summit in 2018.[28][29]

Pant has previously worked as a business news anchor with Times Now, NDTV and Bloomberg-UTV in Mumbai and New York. She was reporting from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the 2008 financial crisis. Her articles have been published in all major publications, including The Hindustan Times[30] and The Huffington Post.[31]

In 2020, Pant became a podcaster with a show about personal finance called SHOW ME THE MONEY, for Amazon's Audible.[32]

Pant has spoken at literary festivals and conferences, including the Jaipur Literature Festival,[33] Tata Literature Live!,[34] Kala Ghoda Literature Festival,[35] Pune International Literary Festival,[36] Young Makers Conclave, #RiseWithTwitter, The UN Feminist Conference, as well as TEDx.[37]

In 2019, Pant appeared as an expert on the show Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan.[38]

• FICCI Young Achiever's Award (2019) – Winner[39]
• TLJ Women Achiever's Award (2019) – Winner[39]
• Laadli Media Award (2018) – Winner[12]
• Bharat Nirman Award (2017) – Winner[40]
• FON (Fellows of Nature) South Asia Short Story Award (2016) – Winner[41]
• Muse India Young Writer Award (2013) – Winner[42][43]
• Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2018) – Longlist[44]
• Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (2014) – Longlist[45][46][47]
• The Cinnamon Press Novel Writing Award (2012) – Shortlist[48]
• 10 Indian Achievers Make It Big[49]
• 25 Women To Follow on Twitter[19]
• Best Female Authors[50]
• 19 Badass Indian Ladies Everyone Should Look Up To[51]

Pant abridged the world's longest epic, The Mahabharata, into one hundred tweets[52] that The Guardian (UK) called "wonderfully descriptive and paced".[53][5]

Novels

• One & A Half Wife (2012). New Delhi: Westland. ISBN 978-9381626481.

Short Stories

• Happy Birthday! (2013). London: Random House. ISBN 978-8184004038.
• The Trouble With Women (2016).

Non-fiction

• Feminist Rani (2018). Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0143442875.
• How to Get Published in India (2019). Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-9388271066.

• Official website
• Meghna Pant at Penguin India