The Bombay Review

South Asia's Biggest Literary Magazine | Estd. 2014

stay safe.

And be an Ally.

Kartik Sonoo B.

- Writer
- Director, The Bombay Review
- Visiting Faculty, Multiple Universities (India, US)
- Journalist (Invesitgative and War)
- Creative Consultant (Contractual)
- Career Guidance (TBR, Universities)
- Event/Festival Director (offline in 30+ countries)
- Panelist (Literary festivals across the world – Jaipur, Kolkata, etc)
- Motivational Speaker (4 TEDx Talks, universities, corporate)
- Award Sponsor (CPB Young Writing Fellowship, LGBTQ+ New Writing, etc)
- Mental Health Project Head (initiating workshops and classes)
- Creative Writing Instructor, TBR

Kartik (28) Biography
(current) Phase 2 of The Bombay Review (2020 – )

Kartik, 28 is the Director of The Bombay Review: South Asia’s Biggest Literary Magazine. Under him, the magazine grew to have a million strong audience over the course of the last 3 years (Phase 2 of The Bombay Review) and matured from a college-dorm Indian magazine to a global voice of social awareness and responsibility working on areas of human rights, library-building (Iraq), multiple India – Pakistan peace projects, the very popular Israel – Iranian Cultural Peace Initiative (2020-2021), bringing out the voices of Iranian writers and poets to an international readership (2021), special events in Australia, Canada, Pakistan among others, conflict-zone aid and volunteering, teaching free literature classes in 200 schools across India, funding prizes for young voices and creating an environment of willingness to bring change among the youth of the country.

Kartik is a motivational speaker, investigative journalist, writer, editor, award sponsor, and creative consultant. A professor of journalism, literature, mental health and gender studies; with a strong dedication towards breaking stereotypes around gender identities, he would often teach classes sporting nail paint or flowers in hair. In the last few years, post pandemic, he works as a visiting faculty in various universities across India apart from teaching advanced level creative writing Masterclasses for students from more than twenty countries. He has mentored more than 650 aspiring writers from different professions and recently been part of conferences and speaking events in Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland (other countries are in following or preceding paras). Some of Kartik’s ongoing classes as of 2023:

To improve the quality of literary education in the country, he set up courses and classes that are conducted by Associate and Senior Professors from universities like University of New Hampshire, Brigham Young University, New York University, University of Nebraska, with upcoming classes from Stanford, University of California, and eleven universities from the US, among others.

In 2022, Kartik travelled to Poland to talk to Ukrainian refugees and brought out a special Ukrainian edition of the magazine, speaking to tens of political refugees of war and writing from the war zone. During the visit, he sustained a heavy injury in his arm resulting in multiple fractures, dislocation and tear, making it lose 30% of its functionality. In the same trip he travelled to Switzerland to raise awareness about press and media freedom, discrimination against minorities, the monopoly and double standards of western governments in the global arena. A strong ally of the LGBTQ+ community, he began funding upcoming LGBTQ+ writers via fellowships at the magazine (CPB Young Writing Fellowship), apart from setting up a fellowship for Dalit writing in India as well (out soon). Upcoming projects of The Bombay Review include editions and events in Belarus, Palestine, Bulgaria, Lithuania-Latvia. Upcoming visit includes Turkey again, and a plan for Baghdad, Iraq is in place for 2024. His work is extensive in Kashmir, North East India, and Chhattisgarh/Jharkhand with regular projects discussing the state of affairs in the region.

Some other identities of Kartik include: certified masseurs (Shanghai certified), a decent cook, lover of flowers. He has a collection of more than 5000 books, including some which are collectibles (and individually worth as high as $22,500) lives in a nuclear facility, and is proud to have Salman Rushdie as a good friend. Kartik’s work in all of the above is voluntary, and the magazine is non-profit. It does not have any investors, backing – monetary or otherwise. The entire magazine from 2014 till today runs completely out of passion and goodwill – and they have realized that sincerity and dedication to a cause can really help an enterprise or idea grow into what The Bombay Review is today.

From New York Times Writers, to Booker Award winners, The Bombay Review and Kartik’s work have been appreciated by the entire publishing industry and is currently a partner of all leading publishers of India, UK, and the US.

Kartik (22) Bio, 2017
Phase 1 of The Bombay Review (2014 – 2018)

22, a JN Tata Scholar (Scholarship of 4.5 lacs), Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Scholar (Scholarship of 8 lacs), journalism graduate from Symbiosis International University, and creative writing graduate from The New School, New York where he was the University Topper with a 4 on 4 GPA, Kartik won the the ’25 Under 25 Change-makers in the Country’ award by Tata and Campus Diaries, in 2016. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Bombay Review, a bi-monthly literary magazine publishing short fiction and poetry. The magazine is based out of New York City and Mumbai and has a readership base in more than 170 countries, and its work has been covered by newspapers like TOI, HT, Pune Mirror, Dainik Bhaskar, Punjab Kesari, Sakaal Times, etc.

As part of his work with the magazine Kartik has given four TEDx talks, been a panelist at numerous literary festivals and events like St Xavier College’s Zeitgeist Media Conclave 2016; Jaipur, Kolkata, Hyderabad and TISS Literary Festivals. Kaartikeya conducts/manages literary events across the country and abroad (Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Japan, UK, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc) for the magazine. The Bombay Review has taken him for talks and literary work to many countries – Macedonia, France, Hungary, Turkey, Austria, and he recently established a base of the magazine in China after winning a scholarship to research his paper in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

He has also worked as a crime reporter with Mumbai Mirror, features writer and copy editor for DNA Newspaper, cultural correspondent for Helter Skelter Magazine, career counsellor for Salaam Baalak Trust, and teacher for Teach for India. His writing work spans a decade already (first published when 9 yrs old in Chandamama) and has appeared in Tehelka, Helter Skelter, Muse India, Reading Hour, Sahitya Academy’s Indian Literature Journal, Spark Magazine, Roots and Meanderings Anthology, Significant Anthology, among others.