Topaz Winters (born September 25, 1999) is an American-Singaporean writer, editor, speaker, and actress of Indian descent. Her name is a pseudonym for Priyanka Balasubramanian Aiyer. She suffers from major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, and hyperacusis, with symptoms of dissociation, intrusive thoughts, and suicidal ideation.
Her work has been published in various websites and journals since she was 13 years old. She founded, edits, and directs the publishing house and literary magazine Half Mystic. She is primarily known as the youngest Singaporean ever to be nominated for the Pushcart Prize and is a two-time nominee.
Her first short film SUPERNOVA (dir. Ishan Modi, 2017) received critical acclaim. It was an official selection for the Laurie Nelson, Newark International, CINE Golden Eagle, and Across Asia Youth Film Festivals. The film was a finalist for the Best Sound Design and Best Young Filmmaker categories in the My Rode Reel Film Festival. She received the Overall Best Actress award for her leading role in the film in the Singapore International Student Film Festival.
She is the author of poems for the sound of the sky before thunder (Math Paper Press, 2017), Monsoon Dream (Platypus Press, 2016), and Heaven or This (2016). poems for the sound of the sky before thunder debuted at the 2017 Singapore Writers Festival, while Heaven or This has been read by over 30,000 people. Her work appears in the anthologies and collaborative novels Beneath the Lion City: Irreal Stories of Singapore (ed. Michael Clark, 2017), Vanitas (ed. Lydia Eileen, 2016), Some Safer Place (ed. Christina Im, 2016), A Cathedral in a Mason Jar (tNY Press, 2016), and The Best Teen Writing of 2015 (Scholastic, 2015).
In 2017 she gave a TEDx talk about storytelling and mental illness for TEDxYouth@SAS.
Video Topaz Winters
Books and Films
- poems for the sound of the sky before thunder (Math Paper Press, 2017)
- SUPERNOVA (dir. Ishan Modi, 2017)
- Monsoon Dream (Platypus Press, 2016)
- Heaven or This (2016)
Maps Topaz Winters
Column
Winters' column "Silver-Tipped Swallow" is published semiannually in Half Mystic Journal and on the Half Mystic blog. It chronicles "the ways in which music intertwines with our experiences in loving, losing, & lingering on what remains". Previous editions of the column have covered subjects of fury in love, heartbreak through the lens of musical instruments, the toxic cycle of mental illness, and meeting a long-distance lover for the first time.
- "In My Defence, Spring" in Half Mystic Journal's Issue IV: Grazioso
- "Qi" in Half Mystic Journal's Issue III: Nocturne
- "Press Play" in Half Mystic Journal's Issue II: Saudade
- "Brief Hazardous Encounters" in Half Mystic Journal's Issue I: Allegro
Selected Awards
- Gold medal, Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools, Original Oratory event for speech "Choosing Tenderness" (2018)
- Nominee, Pushcart Prize, nominated by Glass: A Journal of Poetry for poem "Trigger" (2017)
- Finalist, Cine Golden Eagle Awards, Youth Narrative category for short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Finalist, My Rode Reel Film Festival, Young Filmmaker & Best Sound Design categories for short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Finalist, Newark International Youth Film Festival for short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Official Selection, Laurie Nelson Film Festival for short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Best Actress, Singapore International Student Film Festival for performance in short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Shortlist, Across Asia Youth Film Festival, Drama category for short film SUPERNOVA (2017)
- Finalist, Brain Mill Press' Student Poetry Month Contest for poem "Dream Sequence" (2017)
- Editor's Choice, Brain Mill Press' Student Poetry Month Contest for poem "When My First Boyfriend Learned I Was on Anti-Psychotics, He Laughed & Told Me He Always Suspected I Was Crazier Than I Let On" (2017)
- Gold medal, Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools, Oral Interpretation event for performance of "Aubade with Burning City" by Ocean Vuong (2017)
- Finalist, National YoungArts Foundation, Poetry category for poems "Infernal / Inferno", "For H", "Guidebook for Wild Things Wishing to be Tamed", "Lightning / Hunger" (2017)
- 1st Place, Writer's Eye Awards, High School Poetry category for poem "So, Stranger" (2016)
- Nominee, Pushcart Prize, nominated by Hypertrophic Literary for poem "The Wolf Pack Welcomes November" (2016)
- Gold medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Science Fiction/Fantasy category for short story "How to Talk to Imaginary Things" (2016)
- 1st Place, Poetry Out Loud, Singapore Chapter for performances of "The Applicant" by Sylvia Plath and "American Smooth" by Rita Dove (2015)
- Shortlist, Write the World, Novel-Writing Contest for excerpt from novel Fragments of Aurora (2015)
- Gold medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Poetry category for poems "Midnight Letters", "Ocean Song", "Last Night I Dreamed I Was Drowning", "The Cartographer", "When Spring Arrived" (2015)
- Silver medal, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Poetry category for poems "First Love", "Gravity's Kiss", "Light II" (2014)
- 1st Place, Jane Goodall Institute of Singapore Paths to Peace Writing Competition for poem "Serpent of Peace" (2011)
- 1st Place, Jeri Telstar Young Writers' Prize, 10-12 category for short story "Jeri Telstar and the Attack of the Slimy Savage" (2009)
Selected Publications
- Poem "What My Mother Said to Me the First Time I Was Chosen for a Random Security Check at the Airport" in Indolent Books' What Rough Beast Feature (2018)
- Essay "What Can Wonder Woman 2 Learn From the Mistakes of Its Predecessor?" in Shakespeare & Punk (2018)
- Essay "Marginalia" in Cry Baby, Cry Baby (2017)
- Poem "Trigger" in Glass: A Journal of Poetry (2017)
- Poem "For H" in Reservoir Literary (2017)
- Poem "Mealtime" in Cosmonauts Avenue (2017)
- Poem "I Start Crying During the Best Part of the Film" in Rust+Moth (2017)
- Poems "Love in Goddess-Speak" & "Cherry Blossoms" in Cicada Magazine (2017)
- Poems "Quell", "Lovesong to the Coming Storm", "The Sun's First Gift to Her Lover" in Eunoia Review (2017)
- Poem "Witch in Red" in Heather (2016)
- Poem "Infernal / Inferno" in TRACK//FOUR (2016)
- Essay "Something Real" in Rachel Poli (2016)
- Poem "Sacrifice Speaks" in The Mira Project (2016)
- Poem "Cherry Blossoms" in The Rising Phoenix Review (2016)
- Poem "The Wolf Pack Welcomes November" in Hypertrophic Literary (2016)
- Essay "Creating an Anxiety Box" in Of Wonderland (2016)
- Poem "Cherry Blossoms" in Wildness (2016)
- Poem "Of Broken Glass & Fallen Lovers" in Silvae Magazine (2015)
- Short story "How to Talk to Imaginary Things" in Phosphene Literary Journal (2015)
- Poem "Midnight Letters" in -Ology Journal (2015)
- Poem "Ocean Song" in Thistle (2015)
- Essay "Four O'Clock on a September Afternoon" in Oh, the Books! (2015)
- Poem "Midnight Letters" in Glass Kite Anthology (2015)
- Essay "Setting Aside Writing Time" in Briana Morgan Books (2015)
- Poem "Sticks and Stones" in Survivors Blog Here (2015)
- Poem "Cages" in Germ Magazine (2014)
- Essay "Book Bloggers & Writing Success: Exploiting the Connection" in Authors Publish Newsletter (2014)
- Essay "Books, Bikers, and a Bloodstained Toyota Camry" in My Little Book Blog (2014)
- Short story "Oblivion" in Neon Ink (2014)
- Poem "Thoughts on Forever" in Inkblots & Typing Spots (2014)
- Poems "Hoodie", "First Love", "Gravity's Kiss" in She's In Prison (2013)
Selected Press
- "Crossing From Loneliness Into Being: On SUPERNOVA and an Interview with Topaz Winters" in L'Éphémère Review (2018)
- "True Story: I have 4 Mental Illnesses" in Yes and Yes (2017)
- "Spotlight: SUPERNOVA" in The Light Leaks (2017)
- "Inseam: Topaz Winters" in Thread (2017)
- "Choosing Tenderness: An Interview with Topaz Winters" in Cicada Magazine (2017)
- "Five Things with Topaz Winters" in The Wilds (2017)
- "Feature Article: Half Mystic" in Sapling (2017)
- Featured as a Moledro Magazine Teen Poet (2017)
- "National YoungArts Foundation Honors Indian American Teenage Artists" in India-West (2016)
- "A Conversation with Topaz Winters" in Monstering Magazine (2016)
- "Empowering Poems About Otherness" in Moledro Magazine (2016)
- "Writers of the Week: November 18th, 2016" in Maudlin House (2016)
- "Sweet Talk with Topaz Winters" in Sugar Rascals (2016)
- "An Interview with Topaz Winters" in L'Éphémère Review (2016)
- "May Promoting Creativity: Topaz Winters" in Rambling Writer (2016)
- "Artistry: A Spotlight on Topaz (Six Impossible Things)" in Books for a Delicate Eternity (2016)
- Featured on the official Wattpad blog (2015)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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