Shanta Acharya is the author of twelve books, with Dear Life her eighth of poetry. Imagine drew together her selected poetry in 2017, followed by What Survives Is The Singing in 2020. Her poems have been translated into Bengali, Chinese, French, German, Hindustani, Odia, Russian, and Ukrainian. Her rich Indian and British background includes being raised in Cuttack, India, winning her Ph. D at Oxford after being one of the first women to be admitted to Worcester College in 1979, and being an asset manager in the City. Her journey to Oxford is reflected in her novel A World Elsewhere. She has been a Visiting Scholar in English and American Literature at Harvard, and after returning to London founded and hosted 1996-2015 the monthly 'Poetry in the House' readings at Lauderdale House, Highgate, London, also twice serving on the board of trustees of The Poetry Society as well as The Poetry School in the UK.