Meena Kandasamy

Meena Kandasamy (1984) is an emerging poet,^[1] fiction writer, and translator and activist with the Dalit Panthers of India.^[2] She is based in Chennai.^[3]

Works

Her First poetry collection, "Touch" was published in August 2006, with a foreword by Kamala Das.^[4] Her poems, "Mascara" and "My lover speaks of Rape" won her the first prize in all India Poetry competition.^{[citation needed]} Her works have been published in various journals that include The Little Magazine, Kavya Bharati, Indian Literature, Poetry International Web, Muse India,^[5] and the Quarterly Literary Review - Singapore.^{[citation needed]} She was also invited to participate in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2009.

Selected Translations

• Talisman: Extreme Emotions of Dalit Liberation. Political essays of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, Samya (Kolkata), 2003. pp. 185 + xxx.^[6]
• Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers,Speeches of Thol. Thirumaavalavan, Samya, Kolkata, 2004. pp. 248 + xxvi.
• Point-Blank, Poems of Tamil Eelam poet Kasi Anandan, Kudil, Chennai, 2005, pp. 112.
• Fables, Short-stories of Kasi Anandan, Kudil, Chennai, 2005, pp. 112.
• 30 poems of 18 Tamil Dalit poets for Muse India, Sept-Oct 2006 for a special feature on Tamil Dalit Literature.
• Why were women enslaved? Essays of Periyar EV Ramasamy on women’s rights, Periyar Self Respect Propaganda Institution, Chennai, August 2007, pp. 99 + xvi.

Book-Chapters

• And One Shall Live in Two, Afterword in Tamil Dalit writer P. Sivakami’s novel “The Grip of Change,” Orient Longman, Chennai, March 2006.
• Between Her Legs: Hindutva and Dalit Women in ‘Hindutva and Dalits’, editor: Anand Teltumbde, Samya, Kolkata, February 2005. pp. 108–135. betweenherlegs.pdf

Selected Essays

• Slumdog debate: Let’s not be in denial of the reality, The New Indian Express, i.witness, January 25, 2009.
• Dalits and the Press in India: With Specific Reference to Pandit C. Iyothee Thass and the Tamilian Weekly, Voice of Dalit, 1(2), July–December 2009, pp. 125–145
• Book. Booker. Booked: Indian Fiction in English, The New Indian Express, i.witness, September 13, 2008
• Words Across Borders: Translation As Liberation, The Hindu Literary Review, January 6, 2008.
• Heal Thyself, Opinion Column at Culture Vulture, Tehelka, 29 September 2007.
• Dangerous Cacophony: Hindutva Consolidation and Conscription in Tamil Nadu through Celebrations, Communalism Combat, Mumbai, Nov–Dec 2004, Vol. 11, pp. 22–34. dangerous-cacophony.pdf
• Udderly Fanatic. Boloji, 17 November 2002. (On the atrocity where five Dalits where lynched for skinning a dead cow in Jhajjar, Haryana).
• Casteist. Communalist. Racist. And Now, A Nobel Laureate. Po-Co Web, 2002.

Biography

• (with M. Nisar) AYYANKALI: A Dalit leader of Organic Protest. Foreword by Kancha Ilaiah, Other Books, Calicut, January 2008, pp. 103.

Poetry

• TOUCH. Pages: 144, Price: 145, Published by Peacock Books, the poetry imprint of Frog Books, Mumbai in August 2006, ISBN 81-88811-87-4. Do visit the page for my book which contains details of reviews, interviews and so on. The section here deals only with individual poems.(Print magazines)
• (Chapbook) 16 elegant, untitled poems have been hosted as an e-chapbook The Eighth Day of Creation on the poetry website Slow Trains.

References

1. ^ [1] Rana Dasgupta : In Conversation with Meena KandasamyMuse India,
2. ^ [2] Meena Kandasamy, Poetry International
3. ^ [3]'Meena Kandasamy', Kala Kahani
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ Muse India Author Index - M
6. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/%20Talisman-Extreme-Emotions-Dalit-Liberation/dp/8185604681

External links

• http://www.meenakandasamy.com/
• http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=9972
• http://www.redroom.com/author/meena-kandasamy

Persondata
Name	Kandasamy, Meena
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1984
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death