Venita Coelho

Venita Coelho is an Indian writer, director and artist who lives in Goa.

Early life and education Born in Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand, Coelho grew up and was educated in Kolkata, where she attended St. Xavier's College. She moved to Mumbai (Bombay), and did her diploma in social communications media from Sophia College

Career: media and books After working in film and television, including Dead As A Dodo, which won The Sahitya Akademi Bal Puruskar for 2020 and The Hindu Good Reads award for best fiction for children 2016.

In films and TV Her career in television started as an intern at UTV in Mumbai. She has since written, produced and directed shows. She has since worked at Sony Entertainment Television, Endemol India, Nimbus and Cinevistaas Ltd. Boy No. 32 (nominated for the Neev Literary Award 2018) called "a ghost folklore from a feminist perspective" (Zubaan/ Penguin India). Recommended by Erica Jong as one of the ten best books on death and dying, this collection of feminist ghost stories was long listed for the Frank O'Connor award.

In art Coelho works in oils and acrylics on canvas and glass.

Columns and the media She wrote a column for The Indian Express titled "The Tale of Two Cities", and other columns for The Indian Express, The Asian Age and O Heraldo.