Contact Information
Department of Comparative and World Literature
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2090 Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building
707 S. Mathews Ave. | MC-160
Urbana, IL 61801
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2090 Literatures, Cultures & Linguistics Building
707 S. Mathews Ave. | MC-160
Urbana, IL 61801
Biography
Camellia Paul is a PhD student in Comparative and World Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studies environmental humanities, Multi-Species Studies, nature and science writing, and literary and translation theories.
Research Interests
Her areas of research and publication include environmental humanities, ecocriticism, Multi-Species Studies, nature and science writing, myth and folklore, Comparative Literature, and Translation Studies.
- English, Bengali, Hindi (native and professional fluency)
- German (beginner)
Education
M.A. in Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, India (2019)
B.A. Major in Communicative English, University of Calcutta, India (2017)
Awards and Honors
- Recipient of the "Best Paper Award" and travel grant for presenting a paper titled “Shifting Owlscapes in Bengal: A Flight through Myth, Mysticism, and Magic” at the international “Multi-ConTEXT: Interdisciplinary Conference,” organized by Department of English Language and Literature, Chungbuk National University, The Republic of Korea, October 2024.
Recipient of the Art Winner Award for the Fall 2024 issue of San Antonio Review, September 2024
- Recipient of Best Artist Award 2024 from KPR International (India, Bangladesh, and Nepal), June 2024
Highlighted Publications
“Shifting Owlscapes in Bengal: A Flight through Myth, Mysticism, and Marginalization” in Interspecies Negotiations: Human-Wildlife Conflict in Indian Literature edited by Susan Haris and Anu Pande (Bloomsbury: New Delhi, 2026), pp. 85 – 102. ISBN 978-9361311840. www.bloomsbury.com/us/interspecies-negotiations-9789361311840/
- “Rethinking Agency, Freedom, and the Anthropocene in the Environmental Humanities: A Dialogue,” Kritik Blog, Unit for Criticism & Interpretive Theory, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, December 2025.
criticism.illinois.edu/blog/2025-12-17/rethinking-agency-freedom-and-anthropocene-environmental-humanities-dialogue
Recent Publications
- “Hutam’s Lament” in Of Beasts & Bones, edited by Robin Knabel, (Inky Bones Press: Chicago, 2026). ISBN 979-8254717805. tinyurl.com/OfBeastsandBones
- “Billing and Boating at Bortir: A Biocentric Memoir,” Green Observer, Spring 2026, Students for Environmental Concerns, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, April 2026. secsatuiuc.web.illinois.edu/green-observer/
- “All in a Night’s Walk: Yanghwa-ro to Sinchon” in Whispering Sagas: A Collection of Short Stories edited by Amita Ray, Chaitali Sengupta, and Lopamudra Banerjee (Penprints: Kolkata, 2026), pp. 60 – 66. ISBN 978-81-997780-3-0. penprints.in/shop/product/whispering-sagas/
- “Bijou Problemette” and “Trapped,” in Hubbies: Poems, Hawakal Publishers Private Limited, India and USA, ISBN: 978-9349541412, August 2025. www.amazon.com/Hubbies-Poems-Many-Poets/dp/B0FMT97J58
- “Anosmia-Ageusia: The Coronial Twins,” Breath and Shadow, (Spring 2025 - Vol. 22, Issue 2) Maine, USA, June 2025. www.abilitymaine.org/bs2025spring/%22anosmia-ageusia%3A-the-coronial-tw…
- “Cloudy Cupid,” and “Moon’s Eclipse, Earth’s Elapse,” The Antonym Magazine, India, May 2025. www.theantonymmag.com/poems-dhee-sankar/
- “Pearls of the Planets,” TBR Dark, The Brussels Review, Brussels, Belgium, May 2025. shop.thebrusselsreview.com/products/tbr-dark-5-2025
- “Skyprints,” Soul Poetry, Prose and Arts Magazine, (Issue 1 Volume 1: “Upon These Wings”), Ohio, USA, March 2025. soulpoetry7.com/soul-poetry-prose-arts-magazine-issue-1-volume-1-upon-these-wings/
- The New Teacher and Her Umbrella, Jilipi, Antonym Collections, India, ISBN: 978-81-976848-4-5, January 2025. www.amazon.com/New-Teacher-Her-Umbrella/dp/B0F621CKK7
- “Rain,” San Antonio Review, (Volume 7.2; Winter 2024), New Jersey, USA, December 2024. www.sareview.org/pub/ai2zk3go/release/1
- Ghaghabua, Jilipi, Antonym Collections, India, ISBN: 978-81-9639-618-3, October 2024. www.flipkart.com/ghaghabua/p/itm853c3448010c9?pid
- “Interview with Camellia Paul,” San Antonio Review, (Volume 7.1; Fall 2024), New Jersey, USA, DOI:10.21428/9b43cd98.38554bc2, September 2024. www.researchgate.net/publication/384244265_Interview_with_Camellia_Paul
- “Ratan,” in Flashlights: An Anthology of Very Short Stories, Antonym Collections, India, ISBN: 978-81-971522-2-1, September 2024. books.google.co.in/books/about/Flashlights.html?id=SNIrEQAAQBAJ&redir
- “The Carnivorous Horse,” The Antonym Magazine, India, May 2024, www.theantonymmag.com/the-carnivorous-horse-sadhan-chattopadhyay
- “Coffee House,” “Sunday Skyprint,” and “Sleep Tight,” Setu (Volume 8; Issue 7), Pittsburgh, USA, December 2023. www.setumag.com/2023/12/poetry-camellia-paul.html
- “Living Twogether,” Cultural Reverence (Winter 2023 issue), India, December, 2023. theculturalreverence.wordpress.com/2023/12/07/living-twogether-a-poem-by-camellia-paul
- “The Charming Fiddler,” Livewire, India, December 2019, livewire.thewire.in/fiction-and-verse/the-charming-fiddler