A native of the UK and a holder of a Master’s degree in English Literature from Manchester University, Louisa Kamal has spent over half of her life living and working in Asia—Thailand, Japan and now Nepal. For many years she taught English language and literature in well-known government universities in both Bangkok, Thailand, and Kagoshima, Japan.
Often referred to by friends as the builder of ‘cultural bridges’, Louisa is passionate about both preserving and promoting understanding of traditions and rituals, especially those associated with Tibet, which she first visited in 2012.
A winner of various awards for haiku and short stories, ‘A Rainbow of Chaos’ is her first full-length book.
‘Louisa Kamal’ is, in fact, a nom de plume, chosen for both legal and personal reasons. It was selected with care to combine both Western and Asian elements, her past and her present: ‘Louisa’ is for fond memories of Louisa M. Alcott, the authoress of one of her favourite childhood books, ‘Little Women’; while ‘Kamal’ is Sanskrit for ‘lotus’, the flower of Buddhism and peace, and appropriately symbolic of the life she now leads in the lap of the Himalayas.
Louisa currently lives in Kathmandu with Arjun and their dog, Maya, enjoying trekking, badminton and photography in her free time.