The Wordsmiths

Bhupen Khakhar is known primarily as a painter. He is an occasional writer of fiction in Gujarati.

One of the most creative and engaging aspects of Krishna Sobti's writings is her lively language. Her contribution to Hindi is immense. She has not only added a multitude of new words and expressions to the language, but also experimented with and successfully introduced new styles and techniques of writing. Krishna Sobti has a number of enthralling and exquisite literary works to her credit, which include Daar Se Bichhudi, Mitro Marjani, Surajmukhi Andhere ke, Zindaginama, Ai Ladki, Hum Hashmat, Yaaron ke Yaar, Teen Pahad, Badalon ke Ghere, Sobti Ek Sohbat, and Samay Sargam, among others. Each of these works have an unusual use of the Hindi language, highly coloured with the flavour of the region the story is set in, Punjab in Daar se Bichhudi; and Rajasthan in Mitro Marjani.

Littérateur, playwright, critic, travel writer, screenwriter M T Vasudevan Nair is one of the most outstanding writers of India.

Born at Kudallur village in Palghat, Kerala in 1933, MT began contributing to periodicals very early in life. The first collection of his short stories was published before he completed his graduation from Victoria College, Palghat. He joined the Malayalam magazine Mathrubhumi in 1956, and later became its editor.

He has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel, Kaalam; the President’s Gold Medal for the film Nirmalyam – written, produced and directed by him; The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award thrice for his novel, Naalukettu; his short story collection Swargam Turakkunna Samayam and play, Gopuranatayil. He received the Vayalar Award for his novel Randamoozham and the National Award for Best Screenplay for Oru Vadakkan Veera Gatha, Sadayam and Kadavu. MT was awarded the Katha Award for Creative Fiction for the story Cheriya Cheriya Bhookambangal in 1992. He received the prestigious Jnanpith award in 1995. The Padma Bhushan Award was conferred upon him in 2005. MT lives in Calicut.

Mahasweta Devi was a significant Bangla fiction writer best known for her short story “Draupadi”. She was a socio-political activist who worked at the grass root level for the landless labourers and women. In her crucial works- Bitter Soil, Mother of 1084, After Kurukshetra, Jhansi Rani, Imaginary Maps among others- one witnesses her blatant refusal of the contemporary historical material conditions imposed on women and her rebellious protest against the injustice done to the marginalized sections.

Meenakshi Sharma studied English at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi. She has co-edited Katha Prize Stories 5.

U R Anantha Murthy was a Telugu writer and critic, and one of the proponents of the Navya Movement. He was honored with the Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language in 1994, and the  Padma Bhushan Award in 1998. He was one of the finalists for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013. He also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during the late 1980s.