About

My name is Nartana Premachandra, and I’m a writer and classical Indian dancer in St. Louis, Missouri. I’ve been writing for years, and I made my first foray into the world of publishing in April 1999. Over 13 years ago. And not a word officially published. What an amazing, incredibly difficult, astonishingly magical journey it’s been.

The picture on top is at my reading at Southwest Illinois College in February 2010, as part of their Spring 2010 Writer’s Series. On my right is Treasure Williams, Assistant Professor of English, and on my left, Rick Gregory, Site Supervisor of the College. The picture beneath that is of me at a classical Indian dance performance in 2005.

A quick sketch of myself: I was born in St. Louis. I have a B.A. in French from Washington University, and an M.A. in Finance from Webster University in London. I studied in France for one year, taught English in Japan for a year, and studied in England for three years. I have focused on writing for the past several years. I have written two novels–The Moment, Before Sleep, and The Palace of the Seven Stories. I have also written a collection of short fiction, The Grace of Small Ghosts, some dystopian fiction, and a lot of poetry. I am currently working on a novel on Japan, and a semi-autobiographical children’s novel, and, as always, poetry. Other projects that are lying dormant at the moment are another kids’ book and a memoir about growing up in St. Louis at a time when “Indian” meant “Cherokee”–excerpts of both are posted on the blog.

Additionally, I have learned and performed classical Indian dancing for literally all my life—I started at the age of five. Now, I write scripts for dance shows, as well as perform and speak about Indian dance, all over the St. Louis area, in locations such as: The St. Louis Art Museum, The St. Louis County Library System, the St. Louis Public Library (Central West End branch), Webster University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Gardens, many schools in the St. Louis City & County area, and many corporations, including:
Anheuser-Busch, Ameren UE, AT&T, Boeing, Citi Mortgage, Edward Jones, Enterprise Rental, and MasterCard International, among others.

In addition, I speak at dance performances about Indian myth & meaning. My mother, Asha Prem, is Artistic Director of Dances of India, which is celebrating its 35th Annual Season in 2012.

(www.dancesofindiastlouis.org).