Sept 17, 2020: Won 2020 Bay Area Journalism Award from San Francisco Press Club!
The mission of San Francisco Press Club, a professional journalism organization serving the Greater Bay Area is to encourage excellence in journalism by providing training, grants, scholarships and recognition for professionals and students in the Greater Bay Area. Their mission is driven by a belief in the First Amendment, integrity in reporting, and the essential role of journalism in a democracy.
Entries submitted were:
June 12, 2020: Podcast interview on the New Books Network. https://newbooksnetwork.com/nandini-patwardhan-radical-spirits-indias-first-woman-doctor-and-her-american-champions-story-artisan-press-2020/
In 1883, a young woman named Anandi Joshi set out from her native India to the United States to study medicine. To do so, as Nandini Patwardhan describes in her book Radical Spirits: India’s First Woman Doctor and Her American Champions (Story Artisan Press, 2020) required overcoming numerous hurdles, which she did thanks to the support of family and friends on two continents.
Mark Klobas, Resident Faculty at Scottsdale Community College
May 5, 2020: 150 years ago, a childless mother birthed India’s movement for emancipation of women. https://www.shethepeople.tv/books/150-years-ago-a-childless-mother-birthed-indias-movement-for-emancipation-of-women
… her example—her courage, grit, and triumph in obtaining the M.D. degree—proved to the Hindu orthodoxy that women were capable of a life of the mind, and that they were deserving of empathy; indeed, that the key to Indian society’s uplift lay in the well-being of its women.
May 1, 2020: Why Women’s Stories Matter and Why They Should Matter to Men. https://www.thecuriousreader.in/essays/womens-stories/
How else will boys and men know the challenges of their mothers’ and grandmothers’ lives? How else will they become more thoughtful and empathetic managers and co-workers? How will they be more supportive as husbands and fathers? Indeed, if women are awakened to their limitations, and men are left unaware, the result will be an unbalanced, unsatisfactory, at best, and incendiary, at worst, state of affairs.
April 30, 2020: Excerpt from Radical Spirits. https://www.thecuriousreader.in/excerpt/radical-spirits/
When he found Rev. Goheen’s letter in his morning mail, Rev. Wilder opened it eagerly. He breathed in the scent the letter carried—for a moment he was back in the dusty alleys of Kolapore. Goheen had written about a quite unusual Brahmin, Gopal Joshee, whose acquaintance he had made. The man was passionate about educating his wife and, in that quest, was willing to incur the wrath of his community. Goheen had never met a man who was as passionate and as unafraid of what others might say.
from the chapter titled “Missionary Zeal”
April 13, 2020: Podcast Interview on Ink Slingers Podcast. https://inkslingerpodcast.com/f/nandini-patwardhan
In this episode, author Patwardhan compares her childhood to that of her subject and shares anecdotes of her research process as well as the frustrating quest to find a publisher. After working on this project for ten tumultuous years, she and a colleague founded Story Artisan Press, a publishing company for artisan readers and artisan writers, in 2019.
Ink Slingers Podcast
April 7, 2020: India Currents. https://indiacurrents.com/fierce-and-determined-a-pioneering-spirit/
With strong, elegant writing combined with care to shed light on Indian culture under the British Raj, Patwardhan offers a captivating read.
Jeanne E. Fredriksen
March 27, 2020: Hindu Business Line. Published Q&A about Radical Spirits. PDF. Source link: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/read/the-story-of-the-first-woman-doctor-in-india/article31180517.ece
Patwardhan tells a story that is inspiring and capable of firing up many a young imagination.
Sathya Saran
March 18, 2020: Podcast interview on Nonfiction4Life. Podcast link: https://www.nonfiction4life.com/131-radical-spirits-nandini-parwardhan/
March 8, 2020: Book launch party in Raleigh, NC. Twenty-five friends and supporters attended!