Sati Mookherjee Press Kit
ABOUT SATI
extended bio
Sati Mookherjee (SHAH-tee MOO-kher-jee) is a poet and lyricist. Her work appears in literary journals and anthologies. Her collaborations with contemporary classical composers have been performed or recorded by ensemble (The Esoterics, Contemporary Chambers and Players) and solo musicians (Hope Wechkin, Leaning Toward the Fiddler). Recipient of an Artist Trust/ Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship Award, she is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. A third book, Deś, is forthcoming from Pulley Press, in May 2025.
Recent work appears / is forthcoming in Gulf Coast, Tupelo Quarterly, RHINO, Poetry Northwest.
Sati Mookherjee grew up in Bellingham, WA, the child of Indian immigrants, and spent the summers of her childhood in Kolkata (then Calcutta), India. She speaks fluent Bengali. She was graduated with a BA (English, Creative Writing, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) from the University of Washington, and a MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has worked as a medical writer, a political campaign manager, and Policy and Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Bellingham. In 2011 she founded Sendan Center, a child and adolescent mental and behavioral health clinic that serves children, families and schools in Whatcom and Skagit Counties, and was COO for the next decade. She presently serves on the Board of the Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival and is a former member of the Corporate Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Whatcom County, a founding board member of CommunityWise Bellingham, and former Board Chair of the Whatcom Community Foundation.
Sati is passionate about the pleasures of this unique art form and has spoken to audiences of all kinds: physician groups, faith communities, bookclubs, and fellow poets.
She teaches writers of diverse ages and experience levels, from residents of Seattle’s Ida Culver House, to elementary, middle and high school students, community writers and community college and university undergraduate and graduate students.
INTERVIEW TOPICS
Grief and Loss
… who am I without you? (Milosz)
Holding Space
Gaps and elisions
Language
Consciousness and self-consciousness
Subject & Object
Se manquer
Parts of Speech
the staying power of our animal sounds
SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
•Why is the book called “Ways of Being?”
•In what ways does “Ways of Being” continue / depart from your debut collection, “Eye?”
•How do I read “Ways of Being” if I don’t usually read poetry?
•What was your process writing this book?
INTERVIEW TOPICS
Motifs in Eye
Circles. Orbits. Eclipses. Eyes.
Misconceptions about Hinduism
Hinduism is monotheistic, but the definition of God may surprise you.
Hinduism and Buddhism
… and how they inform and influence Eye
The South Asia Diaspora
Reflections on politics and identity.
Immigration, Migration …
… before, through, and beyond life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Bhagavad Gita
An American essayist and an ancient text.
SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
• How did you go from medicine to politics to child mental health to writing?
• What was the process of writing Eye?
• How do I read Eye if I’m not used to reading poetry?
• Why is the story of your grandfather topical now?
• Why is the book called Eye?
As Seen In
