COMETH THE HOUR

JEFFREY ARCHER WAS EDUCATED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY. HE WAS ELECTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN 1969, APPOINTED DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN 1985, AND ELEVATED TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS IN 1992. JEFFREY ARCHER HAS TOPPED THE BESTSELLER LISTS AROUND THE WORLD, WITH SALES OF OVER 250 MILLION COPIES IN 97 COUNTRIES AND MORE THAN 37 LANGUAGES, OF HIS SIXTEEN NOVELS (INCLUDING KANE AND ABEL NOW ON ITS 93RD REPRINT, A PRISONER OF BIRTH AND PATHS OF GLORY), SIX COLLECTIONS OF SHORT STORIES, THREE PLAYS, THREE VOLUMES OF HIS PRISON DIARIES AND A GOSPEL. HE IS THE ONLY AUTHOR EVER TO HAVE BEEN A NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER IN FICTION (FIFTEEN TIMES), SHORT STORIES (FOUR TIMES) AND NON-FICTION (THE PRISON DIARIES). HIS LATEST PROJECT IS A FIVE-BOOK SERIES CALLED THE CLIFTON CHRONICLES BOOKS ONE, ONLY TIME WILL TELL AND TWO, THE SINS OF THE FATHER, HAVE BOTH BEEN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERS AND BOOK THREE, BEST KEPT SECRET, WILL BE AVAILABLE IN MARCH 2013. ARCHER IS MARRIED TO DAME MARY ARCHER DBE, THEY HAVE TWO SONS AND DIVIDE THEIR TIME BETWEEN LONDON AND CAMBRIDGE.

LEENA SOHONI IS A PROLIFIC WRITER AND A TRANSLATOR AND HAS BEEN CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH MEHTA PUBLISHING HOUSE FOR OVER 33 YEARS. SHE HAS TRANSLATED OVER FIFTY FIVE BOOKS INTO MARATHI INCLUDING THE MUCH TALKED ABOUT LAJJA, BY BANGLADESHI AUTHOR TASLIMA NASREEN. APART FROM TRANSLATION LEENA ALSO WRITES IN PERIODICALS, DAILIES AND ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS IN ENGLISH AND MARATHI. LEENA COMPLETED HER MASTERS IN GERMAN FROM PUNE UNIVERSITY IN THE YEAR 1981 AND WAS AWARDED CHANCELLOR’S GOLD MEDAL FOR SECURING THE HIGHEST RANK IN THE ARTS FACULTY. LEENA IS A RECEIPIENT OF NUMEROUS LITERARY AWARDS INCLUDING THE STATE GOVERNMENT AWARD FOR BEST TRANSLATION (FOR HER TRANSLATIONS: LAJJA BY TASLIMA NASREEN AND WISE AND OTHERWISE BY SUDHA MURTY), G.A.KULKARNI AWARD, N.C.KELKAR AWARD, BAL SHATRI JAMBHEKAR AWARD AND RANJIT DESAI AWARD TO NAME A FEW. SHE HAS ATTENDED ADVANCED TEACHERS’ TRAINING COURSES IN GERMANY ON SCHOLARSHIPS, ONCE BY THE GOETHE INSTITUTE AND ONCE BY THE CULTURAL MINISTRY OF GERMANY.