Article Adayar Times, 2005
Padma Venkatraman, the author of more than twenty books for children and adults, was born in Chennai. She spent most of her childhood in Valmiki Nagar, and did most of her schooling at The School K.F.I. in Adayar, and studied for two years at St. Michael's Academy.

After completing her bachelor's degree in Chemistry at St. Joseph's college, Bangalore, she moved to the United States to pursue graduate study in oceanography. For over a decade, she conducted experiments in physical chemistry, wrote regular columns for leading Indian publications, and placed her work in European and American magazines such as Cricket, Highlights, Odyssey, and Ask. Two sets of animal books for young children were also published during this period.

She started writing her first historical fiction, The Forbidden Temple, as a post-doctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University's environmental engineering school. When this book (published by Tulika) went into second edition, she decided to cut back on science and concentrate on writing. She has recently completed a novel entitled Climbing the Stairs which is based largely on the experience of her mother, who grew up during the time of the Freedom Struggle. A biography on the life of Caroline Herschel, an astronomer who lived in the 1700's has been accepted for publication by Morgan Reynolds, an imprint of John Wiley and Son.

Padma now works part-time as a scientist at the University of Rhode Island, where her husband is a professor. She enjoys music, yoga, hiking, canoeing, and cross-country skiing (which she is very bad at). She also participates in science education and outreach efforts, writes regular magazine columns including a weekly column for The Hindu, and does freelance work, in addition to working on her novels. In the past, she has worked as a staff writer for two Indian children's magazines, and as the headmistress of a school in England.

Padma uses the name "T.V. Padma" when she writes for younger audiences, and her full name when she writes for adults. Her books are available at bookstores in Chennai, through the website: http://www.tulikabooks.com/factandfiction.htm and are also listed at: www.padmasbooks.com.

Padma T. Venkatraman - Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae
padma@ureach.com

CURRENT POSITION:

  • Adjunct faculty, GSO, URI

EDUCATION:

  • Post-doctoral research, 2001-2002: Post-doctoral research fellow at the Whiting School Of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA.
  • Ph.D., 2001: awarded by the School of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, USA; in Marine Science. GPA = 3.96. Dissertation: Use of molecular markers to track pollutant transport and fate.
  • M.S., 1994: awarded by the College of William and Mary, USA; in Marine Science.
  • B.Sc., 1989: awarded by St. Joseph's College, India; triple major in Chemistry, Environmental Science and Botany at the age of 19. Graduated within the top 0. 3% of the entire undergraduate class of the Bangalore University and received a State Rank (52nd out of about 22,000 students) and a National Merit Scholarship.

PUBLISHED CREATIVE WRITING FOR THE JUVENILE MARKET
Books:

  • Seeking starry secrets: The astronomer, Caroline Herschel (working title; accepted for publication by Morgan Reynolds).
  • Sickle cell disease (assigned; Lucent Books).
  • 2004: The Forbidden Temple, historical fiction novel, (ages 10 and over), Tulika, India. The 2nd edition of this book was printed in 2005; translation rights have been requested; a chapter has been adapted for use in a text book.
  • 2004: Paper etchings, (poetry, adult), The Writer's Workshop, India.
  • 2003: Around the world with animals. Series of 8 books published by Brightsparks, India.
  • 2001: The amazing animal kingdom. Series of 10 books published by Neve, India.

Published juvenile fiction (magazines):

  • How Savitri tricked the God of Death (accepted), Cricket magazine, USA.
  • Ali's Olive Jar (accepted), Spider magazine, USA.
  • Why the peacock has eyes on its tail (accepted), RC Owen Books, USA.
  • 2004: Birbal and the Barber, Spider, (Carus publications) USA. Reprint and translation rights for this article were sold to Measured Instructional Progress, Detroit Office of Public Education, in 2005.
  • 2003: A fair division. Highlights for children, USA.
  • 2002: Rounding up camels. Odyssey, (Carus publications) USA.

Published juvenile non-fiction (magazines):

  • The Rabbit in the Moon (accepted), Appleseeds (Carus publications), USA.
  • Shinto (accepted), Appleseeds (Carus publications), USA.
  • Is this a Rembrandt (accepted), Calliope (Carus publications), USA.
  • Saffron Yoghurt (accepted), Calliope (Carus publications), USA.
  • Polar Dinosaurs (accepted), Calliope (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2005: Sounding out the sea's secrets, Faces (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2005: Mapping Distant Planets, Faces (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2005: Marie Tharp, Faces (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2005: Craig Kielburger, Appleseeds (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2005: Sea monsters in Kansas, Ask (Carus publications), USA.
  • 2001: High Tech on the High Seas. Appleseeds (Carus Publications), USA.
  • 2000: Space, Science Weekly (contract work for Harcourt and Steck-Vaughn publishers). 1999-2003: Science writer for the children's magazine, Chatterbox.
  • 1998: Science and Law (series), The Hindu, India.
  • 1995: Non-fiction writer for the children's magazine Gokulam, India.

Poetry for children:

  • My face, 1995, Gokulam, India
  • Morning Gold, 1995, A Place in the Woods, USA

Regular science columns for children:

  • Monthly columns written for Maitree (TCS) website.
  • Science world. Weekly science column, The Hindu newspaper, est. 1848., India.
  • Science! Weekly science column, The Times of India, NIE.
  • Brain food. Quarterly maths and science column for Kahani, a magazine for South Asian American children, USA.
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