An Author’s Afternoon on 30th September, 2013, featured Tanya Mendonsa in a conversation with entrepreneur and animal activist Nilanjanaa Senguptaa at Taj Bengal, Kolkata. The event was presented by Shree Cement along with Prabha Khaitan Foundation, t2 and Siyahi.

Tanya is a poet, painter and writer all rolled into one. This former Kolkata girl has lived in many places – Paris, Bangalore, Goa, Nilgiris and loves staying away from crowded places. A voracious reader she finishes a book in a day. She has been writing since she was a child but her first book of poems The Dreaming House took 20 years to actually write as she never wanted to publish until she had a complete book. Her second book of poems was All the Answers I shall ever Get. Her first work of non-fiction was The Book of Joshua–a memoir of her cocker spaniel that takes one on a world tour.

In the course of the discussion Tanya admitted that today’s generation does not read at all. She also said that she does not believe in digital publicity. She confessed that the book on Joshua is a tribute to him and after his death she did not want to have another dog. “Joshua for me is a metaphor for life. The book is about animals but it is also about this zest for life and adventure and never being frightened of anything”, added this animal lover writer.