DEVAKINANDAN KHATRI

Devakinandan Khatri (1861-1913) was born in Pusa, Bihar, in the home of his maternal grandfather, Jivanlal Mahato, a wealthy landowner. His father, Lala Ishvardas, descended from an illustrious family from Lahore. He shot to literary fame with his first novel, Chandrakanta, at the age of twenty-six. He subsequently set up his own printing press, the Lahari Press, in Banaras. His other popular works include Chandrakanta Santati and Bhutnath.

Author, poet and translator, Deepa Agarwal writes for both children and adults. She received the N.C.E.R.T. National Award for Children's Literature in 1993 for her picture book Ashok's New Friends. Her historical fiction Caravan to Tibet was on the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2008.