Meher Divya Manda

Meher Divya Manda is a Lecturer in the School of Literary Arts and Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she teaches creative writing with a focus on justice-oriented pedagogy and diverse literary voices. Based in New York City and Providence, she bridges academia with professional practice as a poet, journalist, and educator originally from Mumbai, India.

Education:

• Undergraduate degree in Advertising and Journalism, University of Mumbai
• MFA in Fiction, College of New Rochelle (founding editor-in-chief of The Canopy Review)

Her creative research explores intersections of culture and politics through South Asian artistic lenses, manifested in poetry, fiction, and political graphic narratives. She champions writing as a dynamic art form intrinsically linked to contemporary sociopolitical discourse, emphasizing inclusive representation of marginalized voices in literary spaces.

Literary Honors:

• Nominated for Best New Poets 2020
• Nominated for Best of the Net Anthology 2020
• DreamYard fellowship recipient
• Teachers & Writers Collaborative grant recipient
• J.N. Tata Endowment for Higher Education grant recipient

Manda's teaching practice spans institutional and community settings including the College of New Rochelle, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, USDAN, 92Y, Cooper Union, Manhattanville College, Queens Library, and Langston Hughes House. Her pedagogy centers on writing for justice, with grants supporting community-engaged literary education. Current creative work includes a political graphic novel about India and a short story collection developed through her affiliation with Radix Media, a worker-owned indie publisher where she serves as collective member.

She co-creates the political web-comic Jamun Ka Ped with Mayukh Goswami and has contributed to major publications including The Juggernaut, Bustle, Scroll, and Firstpost, with features in Brooklyn Poets, Hyperallergic, and The Hindu.