Author: Ruth Vanita
Profile: Ruth Vanita is an Indian author, activist and academic. Ruth also writes and teaches Hindu philosophy. She was born in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma).
She received her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D degree in English at Delhi University. She worked in the Department of English at Delhi University as Reader from 1994 to 1997. Presently she works at the University of Montana as professor of World Cultures and English where South & South-East Asian Studies are directed by her. Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society has been co-founded by Ruth Vanita in 1978 while living in Delhi. This journal is a combination of grassroots activism and academic research. From the year 1979 to 1991 she served as volunteer co-editor of the journal without getting any salary payment.
Writing style: Ruth Vanita specializes in Indian and British literary history with a major focus on sexuality and gender studies.
Published Texts:
Books
1994 – A Play of Light: Selected Poems
1996 – Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination
2005 – Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West
2005 – Gandhi’s Tiger and Sita’s Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture
2012 – Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry In India 1780-1870
2017 – Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema
Edited volumes
1991 – In Search of Answers: India Women’s Voices from Manushi
2000 – Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History
2002 – Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society
2014 – India and the World: Post-colonialism, Translation and Indian Literature – Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Trivedi
Translations
1994 – Yadav, Rajendra: Strangers on the Roof
1997 – Detha, Vijay Dan. Dilema and Other Stories
2003 – Bhandari, Mannu: The Great Feast (Mahabhoj)
2006 – Sharma, Pandey Bechan (‘Ugra’): Chocolate and Other Stories on Male-Male Desire
2007 – About Me (Apni Khabar) autobiography of Pande Becan Sharma Ugra)
2008 – The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand
2013 – Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Sheth and Archana Varma
Awards and Acknowledgements:
Nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Studies
