Episode #112: Names! with Namrata Tripathi
Grace and Alvina are joined by Namrata Tripathi, Publisher of Kokila, to talk about names, especially the importance of pronouncing names correctly.
Namrata Tripathi is Vice President & Publisher of Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers dedicated to centering stories from the margins. Previously, Namrata held editorial positions at HarperCollins, Disney-Hyperion, and Simon and Schuster. She is the editor of the picture books Islandborn by Junot Díaz and Leo Espinosa and The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken; the middle grade novels The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani, and Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley; and the YA novels Where Things Come Back, Noggin, and Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley. Namrata grew up in Afghanistan, India, Canada, Pakistan, Germany, and Poland, and has happily called New York City home for the last twenty years. Follow her on Twitter: @Tweetpathi.
How have you been?
Namrata is enjoying the summer weather, feeling pretty good, and is feeling back in her body. Grace is really tired and has many requests for school visits for doing a lot of appearances. She’s been busy with her virtual picture book exhibit, Asians, everyday! at the Carle Museum. She joined recently joined Tik Tok! Alvina recently moderated a panel for SCWBI. Panelists included Paula Yoo, Dow Phumiruk, Emily X.R.Pan, Mike Jung, Samira Ahmed, and Julie Abe.
Name Pronunciation!
Grace, Alvina, and Namrata talk about nicknames and how we are attached to our own names in many ways. They discuss choosing names, pronouncing names, Americanized names, unusual names, and how names can relate to issues of race and identity.
Gratefuls:
Namrata is grateful for being on this podcast and also grateful for her friends who know when to ask for help. Alvina is grateful for her friends too because she has really missed them and is so happy to get back to normalcy and interact with them. She’s also grateful that Grace inspired her to get a little wading pool. Grace is grateful for their long-awaited DELUX wading pool that finally arrived this year! She is also grateful for her daughter’s running program, Girls on the Run.
Thank you!
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Twitter and Instagram and @gracelinauthor on TikTok and Facebook
Namrata can be found @tweetpathi on Twitter and Instagram and @kokilaBooks on Twitter and Instagram
*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Grace Lin with Tui Sutherland answer, “If you could morph two animals to make one super animal, what two animals would you choose?” Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!
