Meena Kandasamy

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In this Indian name, the name Kandasamy is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Meena.
Meena Kandasamy
200px
Meena in 2012
Born Ilavenil Kandasamy
1984
Pen name Meena
Occupation Writer, activist, translator
Nationality Indian

Ilavenil Meena Kandasamy (born 1984) is an Indian poet, fiction writer, translator and activist who is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.[1] Most of her works are centered on feminism and the anti-caste Caste Annihilation Movement of the contemporary Indian milieu. As of 2013, Meena has published two collections of poetry namely, Touch (2006) and Ms. Militancy (2010). She has also represented India at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program and was a Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Born in 1984 to Tamil parents, both university professors.[1][2][3] Named as Illavenil by her parents, she developed an early interest in poetry, and later adopted the name Meena.[4] Meena completed a Doctorate of Philosophy in Socio-linguistics from Anna University, Chennai.[1] Meena wrote her first poetry at the age of 17, which was about a sex worker.[5]

Professional career

As writer

As a writer Meena's focus was mainly on caste annihilation, feminism and linguistic identity.[6] One of her first poetry collections, Touch was published in August 2006, with a foreword by Kamala Das.[1] It was translated into five different languages upon publication. Her second poetry Ms. Militancy was published the following year.[1] Other works such as Mascara and My lover speaks of Rape won her the first prize in all India Poetry competition.[7]

Her two books were reviewed by the New Indian Express. Touch was criticised for its English language errors, though its challenging themes were described as "interesting".[8] Ms. Militancy was described as an improvement in her use of the English language but "disastrous, if not worse" in terms of themes and content.[8] A review in The Hindu put the negative criticism into context, describing Meena's work as difficult for anyone whose politics were "mainstream".[3] Her poetry is "about the female self and body in ways not 'allowed' by this discourse".[3] An analysis of Touch and Ms Militancy in the Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies concludes that Meena "authors a poetic discourse that not only castigates the prevalent modes of subjugation but also resolutely strives towards futures that are yet to be born."[9]

Her works have been published in various journals that include The Little Magazine, Kavya Bharati, Indian Literature, Poetry International Web, Muse India, Quarterly Literary Review, Outlook, Tehelka and The New Indian Express.[10] She was also invited to participate in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2009[6] the youngest person from India to represent the country.[1] Two years later, Meena was made the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Kent.[6] Meena was made a featured poet at the City of Asylum Jazz Poetry Concert held in Pittsburgh, the 14th Poetry Africa International Festival (2010), Durban and the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival (2011).[11] She has co-authored a book named AYYANKALI: A Dalit leader of Organic Protest, a biography of Ayyankali, a dalit leader in Kerala.[12] Meena was shortlisted among the 21 Short fiction women writers aged less than 40 from South Asia to be featured in an anthology published by Zubaan, New Delhi, the country's first feminist publishing house.[13] In addition, Meena edited The Dalit, a bi-monthly English magazine,[1] and in 2014 published a novel about the Kilvenmani massacre titled The Gypsy Goddess, influenced by the figure of Kurathi Amman, her "ancestral goddess".[5] As of January 2013, she is working on a book titled Caste and the City of Nine Gates, her first non-fiction work.[6]

As translator

Although Meena writes in English, she has translated prose and poetry from Tamil.[14] In addition, she has translated the works of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Thol. Thirumavalavan and Tamil Eelam writers such as Kasi Anandan, Cheran and VIS Jayapalan into English.[11] Speaking about her role as a translator, she says "I know that there is no limit, no boundary, no specific style guide to poetry—that you are free to experiment, that you are free to find your own voice, that you are free to flounder and also free to fail once in a while, because all this happens all the time when you translate."[4]

As actor

Meena is debuting as an actress in a Malayalam film, Oraalppokkam.[15] It is the first online crowd funded independent Malayalam feature film.[16]

Notable work

Biographies

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

Poetry

  • Ms. Militancy,[8] 2010, published by Navayana
  • TOUCH.[8] Published by Peacock Books, Mumbai in August 2006, ISBN 81-88811-87-4.
  • (Chapbook) 16 elegant, untitled poems have been hosted as an e-chapbook The Eighth Day of Creation on the poetry website Slow Trains.

Novels

  • The Gypsy Goddess, Atlantic Books, April 2014.[17]

References

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  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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