Shanker, Ashim: Don't Forget to Breathe

Born in Pennsylvania to Indian immigrants, Ashim Shanker struggled early with the complexities of identity and found writing to be a suitable outlet for unpacking the many contradictions he faced on a daily basis. The page became a medium for all the questions that had no particular answer. And wishing to explore a new dimension of self beyond heritage and environment, he moved to Japan in 2003 and spent the next 11 years teaching and writing in Tokyo. It was there that he published the first novel of his absurdist 'Migrations' fiction series, Don't Forget to Breathe (2008). Before moving back to the United States for graduate studies, he published one more novel in the series, Only the Deplorable (2013), as well as a collection of short stories and poems, Sinew of the Social Species (2014).

After completing a Master's degree in International Education Policy at Harvard University, Shanker contributed to educational research publications in collaboration with UNICEF and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He also contributed to a collection of educational case studies profiled in the book Building Bridges to the Future (2018). He completed his third novel in the 'Migrations' series, Inward and Toward, in 2019 and released his second book of short stories 'trenches parallax leapfrog' the following year.