Venita Coelho is a screenwriter, novelist, and artist who writes across age groups and genres. She has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Bal Puraskar for her book Dead as a Dodo. Among her other awards is The Hindu Goodreads Award for Best Fiction for children, The Neev Award, and the Peek A Book award. Her collection of feminist ghost stories The Washer of the Dead was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor award.