# Ayan Pal

Ayan Pal is an Indian author and public speaker, best known for his novel Confessions on an Island as well as his acclaimed short stories featured in the anthologies Chronicles of Urban Nomads and 21 Tales to Tell. He has also co-authored Crossed and Knotted, India’s first composite novel, which was included in the Limca Book of Records.

## Early life and education

Pal was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and was raised in a Hindu matriarchal joint family comprising his parents, grandmother, and aunts.
After completing his education at St. Joseph's College, Calcutta, he pursued a bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore. Additionally, he completed a course in Education Technology from San Diego State University, California.

## Career

Pal is a member of Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organisation headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, USA.
In 2013, Pal received the prestigious Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award for completing the Advanced Communication Gold and Advanced Leader Silver certifications.
Pal formally began his journey as an author and writer in 2014 when his work was featured in 21 Tales to Tell. He earned this opportunity by being recognised as one of the 21 best writers across India in a contest organised by Notion Press, which saw over 4 lakh readers vote among 562 competing authors. He later contributed critically acclaimed short stories to Chronicles of Urban Nomads and Her Story.
In 2015, he co-authored Crossed and Knotted, India’s first composite novel, which was featured in the Limca Book of Records. He later contributed to Rudraksha.
In 2016, Pal made his debut as a solo novelist with Confessions on an Island and also contributed to When They Spoke. Later that year, he was a finalist in the Orange Flower Awards for Digital Creative Superstars, presented by Women’s Web in association with HarperCollins, in the categories of Creative Writing and Humour.
In 2017, Pal participated in Saptan Stories, an initiative by British Council India and the Oscar-winning Aardman Animations, developed as part of the UK-India Year of Culture 2017. Hailed as India’s first-ever purely crowd-sourced short story art project, the contest featured seven artists from India and the UK illustrating the six winning entries. Pal’s storylines were voted as the best entry twice during the seven-week-long contest. That same year, he was recognised by the writers' social networking platform Kalaage, being included in their list of India's Top 100 New and Rising Authors.
In 2017, Pal was named the national champion for impromptu speaking (Table Topics) in District 41, which serves North and East India.
In 2018, Pal was listed by the Hindustan Times as one of the "Five Indian Short Story Writers to Read" for readers who enjoy stories told in fewer words.
He also contributes to the South Asian literary magazine Open Road Review and the literary social forum Readomania.

## Books
### Novels

* Crossed and Knotted (Kurious Kind Media, 2015)
* Confessions on an Island (Kurious Kind Media, 2016)

### Anthologies

* 21 Tales to Tell (Notion Press, 2014)
* Upper Cut (Red Ink Publishers, 2014)
* Her Story (Petals Publishers, 2014)
* Chronicles of Urban Nomads (Kurious Kind Media, 2014)
* Rudraksha (Kurious Kind Media, 2015)
* Long Story Short (Notion Press, 2015)
* When They Spoke (Kurious Kind Media, 2016)
* Tonight's The Night (Notion Press, 2016)
* Arranged to Love (Notion Press, 2016)