Aparna Raman decided to work with children after experiencing the fun and wonder of raising her son Rohan. At 7, Rohan had created his first Comic strip series, with a superhero named Captain Pooky who battled hamsters, evil scientists, robots, aliens and skeletons with gusto! Aparna also observed Rohan creating scrap books of newspaper ads, holiday photos and other collectibles from a young age. A Spelling Bee International finalist, Rohan went on to write an ipod story, The Cactus and the Mushroom at 9.
Aparna Raman is a writer, educator, storyteller, creative writing facilitator and the founder of Timbuktoo Young Authors Publishing – India’s first ‘by kids, for kids’ publishing platform. Timbuktoo has launched over 250 young authors across India, Brunei, Colombo, Dubai, Hawaii, London, The Netherlands and Singapore. Timbuktoo offers end to end services including Mentoring, Editing, Designing, Illustration, Printing, Distribution, Merchandise and publicity events.
Aparna is a regular speaker at Litfests such as The Bangalore Literature Festival, The Bangalore Poetry Festival, Bookaroo, Kala Ghoda, Kalaedo by KLAY Schools, Lulu Cochin, Makkala Koota, Mango Litfest Surat, Peek-a-book, Mumbai, Todden school Ahmedabad and Mumbai and the Vizag Junior Literary Festival. She was Accenture’s keynote speaker at a campus event in Jaipur for Women’s Day. Aparna has worked with Re-reeti to curate children’s workshops at museums and is the founder of Storylines, an initiative that encourages the archival of family histories.
Through her community-oriented Timbuktoo Hope vertical, Aparna has written three books for children, parents and educators that encourage inclusiveness and acceptance. The latest, My World of Wonder was launched at the Vizag Festival, The Moon who wanted to be the Sun was launched at Kaleido litfest.
Timbuktoo has also supported Akshaya Patra, Hasirudala, Parikrma, and Diya Ghar’s Food collection drives for daily wage workers during Covid. Proceeds from various workshops supported the above campaigns. Meanwhile, as schools continue to remain shut, Aparna is working with govt school children of CSS Mohanam High school to continue their education via telephone.
As a faculty member at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore, Aparna facilitates courses on Communication and Information Design. Her areas of interest are Branding, Narratives, Storytelling, Visual culture, Media & Communication and Human Computer interaction. She is working on designing community outreach programs and rural education interventions. Aparna is a post graduate in Literature and has studied Advertising at London’s British Design & Art Direction and Screenwriting in California. She is also a Kathalaya-certified Storyteller.