Reviews

You’ve got style! —S,  Autumn Leaves | Phnom Penh, 2022

I like your facilitation. —F, The Third Place | Phnom Penh, 2022

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it and I’m so happy when talking with you. I got a smile while reading the thank-you letter from my team. Thank you again, Dipika:) —S, Time For Us | Phnom Penh, 2022

Thank you for a great event. See you next time. —P, The Third Place | Phnom Penh, 2022

Thank you. —K, Balance | Virtual, 2022

What you make looks simple, but it’s not simple at all. —KY, Atelier S P A C E | Tokyo, 2021

You, more than anybody else I know, are true to who you really are. —J, The Book of Feelings, Virtual, 2020

It’s simple, but very beautiful. —BV, Atelier S P A C E | Ho Chi Minh City, 2020

You are an amazing writer so I’m glad that you’re keeping writing, sharing with so many around the world and inspiring others with your innovative ideas and ways of thinking differently. —D, ‘Expanding Windows’, Dalat, Vietnam, 2020

Thank you for coming to Latvia and trying to get us to talk to each other… I hope you’ll come back next year. —S, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, Latvia, 2019

Thanks for your nicely done S P A C E I enjoy it every time!!! —IB, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, 2019

Edifying… You changed the way I think. —SJ, Atelier S P A C E | Hanoi, 2019

Meeting you was a highlight of my trip. —GS, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, 2019

I’m still thinking of that conversation from four years ago. That’s why I came to this one. I knew if you were doing it, it was going to be interesting. —GC, S P A C E | Bangkok, ‘Miniparty’, 2019

I haven’t felt like this, creatively, just… yeah! For… years!!… Thank you. —R, Atelier S P A C E, Vrútky, Slovakia, 2019

You’ve definitely helped me to recognize my need for the real in both my work and play. I’m very grateful to you for that. —MD, Atelier S P A C E | Phnom Penh, 2019

I really enjoyed our conversations and am so glad I met you when I did… I loved getting to chat with someone who was so knowledgeable and interesting. —AH, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, 2019

You want people to think. —JE, Atelier S P A C E | Kärsämäki, Finland, 2018

You’re a catalyst for conversations. People might not know where those conversations go, or what new relationships with new people could develop, but you start them. You make the space. You show up. —DM, The Mirror, Virtual, 2018

You’re one of those rare, genuine and committed individuals who creates unforgettable experiences. —SC, Slow Moment, Virtual, 2018

You stirred something in me that has not moved for a very long time. —PH, Atelier S P A C E | Kärsämäki, Finland, 2018

My mind is, after this conversation, blank. Like, zero. And I mean that in the best possible way. —M, Atelier S P A C E | Phnom Penh, 2017

Astonished… –BH, The Cojournal Project, Virtual, 2017

I love the space you are creating and holding around the world for deep thought and unusual connection. —KA, Kismuth Collaborations, Virtual, 2017

I marvel at all the amazing ideas you come up with — AND bring to life! —SY, Atelier S P A C E | Hanoi, 2017

This reads like a work of philosophy. – J, on Breakfast in Cambodia (Kismuth Books / 2016), Virtual, 2016

I loved [Kanishka], Dipika. You and I are different in many ways. I am not sure we would fully agree on what and where we are. But we are also are the same. I really connected with Kanishka. Life, to me, is also all about connections among all of us, but also connections we make in our mind among events and happenstance, and the things we learn from their resonance. I’ve never had an experience anything like what you had when you lost Jaya, but I could feel it, and how it shaped the way you connect with the world, and how you connect it all in your consciousness. I really, really like your epilogue. Thanks… —former Raleigh News & Observer Editor Eric Frederick on Goodreads review of Kanishka, (Kismuth Books / 2015), 2015

Weird and intriguing. —D, Hello August | Phnom Penh, 2015

The way the event was organised was well thought through; from the personal invitation, individually crafted official invitations, creative activities which with facilitated conversation beyond the usual ‘who are you?’ and ‘what do you do?’… When we met, it was like we didn’t have a long awkward get-to-know-you phase, it was easy to chat and talk about less usual things. I met many interesting people that night. I now have friendships with people in Phnom Penh from ‘N’, after all a friendship is formed by first talking with someone, and then talking with them again. —SR, ‘N’ | Phnom Penh, 2014

You, for sure, have a way with words. —MT,  S P A C E | Palo Alto, 2014

My writerly friends (those who do so publicly and privately), I’ve been participating in Dipika Kohli’s cojournal project since just before the new year (2014). It’s a unique project and it’s pretty special. If you’ve been looking for some structure or accountability in your writing – and supportive community in very small groups, this could be for you. dipika is a compassionate leader and offers some accessible assignments that are helping to shift my writing lens. I love it. —MH, Cojournal Project, Virtual, 2014

You are a real artist. I think you should pursue that seriously. —C,  S P A C E | Palo Alto, 2014

I am writing because I wanted to thank you all for sharing ideas and memoirs, I am very much impressed and really enjoyed the workshop [SELF]. I’ve been working on my writing, and finished one short story which I feel so happy after I finished writing it (it’s in Thai.) I’m working on its English version pretty soon and will send to you all for the feedback. Bottom line is, I’m happy to let you know that I’ve somehow overcome my fear of writing, though there’re times when I got stuck with the stories, get distracted, or feel like it’s not good enough – if it was before, I was just going to give up. now, I feel it challenged me and I find writing more enjoyable. Most importantly, I feel like my writing is getting better, too. –JL, SELF, Bangkok, 2014

Refreshingly honest! —O, Origin | Phnom Penh 2014

She’s a creative genius. —C, ‘N’ Phnom Penh, 2014

You are creating the theaters that Phnom Penh doesn’t have. —VW, ‘N’ Phnom Penh, 2014

I look forward greatly to reading anything by this Kamal di punjabi kurri. Please support her extraordinary journey through life and be rewarded!! —Poonam Singh, Preetlarhi Magazine, Chandigarh 2013

Dipika is a[n] author who clearly has been writing for years. Her ability to illustrate a particular moment, object, or emotion is amazing. Her writing style is different than what I am accustomed to reading. It’s almost poetic. As the reader you can expect to gain insight into the mind, heart and soul of a Woman who lives life passionately and purposely. Also, Dipika does a nice job at outlining the good and not so pretty reality of what it means to defy cultural norms.—Anonymous, on The Elopement, Review at Amazon, 2012

Somehow, Dipika folds you into her head and her world with ease, even in the most difficult of situations. Anyone who has ever judged another person in the throes of a difficult situation should read this book. She reminds us all of our humanity, and how easy it is to underestimate another’s pain with a beautiful description of a complicated time. Wonderful writing, vivid scene setting of the place. I was strapped in once the pregnancy began and barely came up for air.’ —Anne, a Kindle review on The Dive (Kismuth Books / 2012) 

What comes through the most is the personality of the author and truly feeling her perspective as she goes through this collage of beautiful and heartwarming(-breaking) incidents. The somewhat conversational style and the painterly touches of language really enrich what is already a non-traditional story of this type. The artistry of the language is matched only by the truthfulness to the emotional journey the author has been through. If you’re a fan of good travel writing, poetic prose, and personal essays/memoir of the type where the aesthetics of a scene are just as important as its recitation of events and their details, then you’ll love this book. Like me you’ll find yourself wishing to visit Ireland, India, and Japan all at once, if only to see your familiar spaces in a new light when you return home. I’m really looking forward to the next one! —Tim S., on a Kindle review of The Elopement (Kismuth Books /2012)

And while it might be possible to create one’s own destiny, the lesson we can learn from this book is that it is folly to try to create someone else’s.’ —Kate Allison, The Displaced Nation. Read the full review of The Elopement, 2012

Meaning is not manufactured. It is experienced. Dipika Kohli has lived these words. —Aaron Mandel, Clarion Content. Read the full review of The Elopement, 2012

‘Ah, the wonders of the Sharpie. Such a simple instrument, yet so many possibilities, especially in the hands of Dipika Kohli. Kohli has a witty, abbreviated sensibility perfectly in tune with her medium of choice. With it she silhouettes the world, at least the world as seen from one’s own front door, both facing in and facing out.

‘Rooftops, papers on a desk, the corner of an apartment, an array of objects, a spoken phrase, a bunch of flowers—all find bold and punchy expression through Kohli’s simple black marker line drawings. What takes these catchy pictures further than mere amiableness are the kinds of subtle twists most apparent in Kohli’s zines, where she displays a wry sense of her own field and life. Made primarily from cut-up glossy magazine pages, these collage books are both funny and critical, diaristic and transparent. One even shows marker lines atop found images, revealing the source and process of her own style. How this all translates into hired work for her graphic design clients I have no idea, but I suspect it translates just fine—in our world of irony upon irony, self-reflexivity and critical consumerism can now be used to sell everything from iPods to iGO car shares.  —Chicago Tribune art critic Lori Waxman. See it in context at 60wrdmin.org, here.

I think [design thinking] is a valuable skill for anyone to have because the process is about creating innovative solutions… Hearing and then seeing the work of someone who does this every day was an incredible opportunity… Curiosity is encouraged! —A student at Dipika Kohli’s seminar on Design Thinking at UNC-Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill NC, 2011