Ruth Vanita

Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises^[1] in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She also teaches and writes on Hindu philosophy.

Early life and education

Vanita earned her BA, MA and PhD in English at Delhi University.^[2]

Career

From 1994 to 1997 Vanita was Reader in the Department of English at Delhi University.^[1] She is now a professor of English and World Cultures at the University of Montana, where she directs the program in South & South-East Asian Studies.^[3]

While living in Delhi in 1978, Vanita co-founded Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society, a journal that combined academic research and grassroots activism. She served as the journal's unpaid, volunteer co-editor from 1979 to 1991.^[1]

Major publications

Books

• 1994: A Play of Light: Selected Poems^[4]
• 1996: Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination^[5]
• 2005: Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West^[6]
• 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^[7]
• 2017: Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema^[8]
• 2020: Memory of Light (a novel)^[9]
• 2022: The Dharma of Justice: Debates on Gender Varna and Species^[10]
• 2023: The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations^[11]
• 2024: A Slight Angle (a novel)^[12]

Edited volumes

• 1991 (ed. with Madhu Kishwar): In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi^[13]
• 2000 (ed. with Saleem Kidwai): Same-Sex love in India: Readings from Literature and History^[14]
• 2002 (ed.): Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society^[15]
• 2014 (ed.): India and the World: Postcolonialism, Translation and Indian Literature – Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Trivedi^[16]

Translations

• 1994: Yadav, Rajendra: Strangers on the Roof, translated by Ruth Vanita, Penguin India, 1994 (updated edition with a new introduction 2014)
• 1997: Detha, Vijay Dan. Dilemma and Other Stories
• 2003: Bhandari, Mannu: The Great Feast (Mahabhoj)
• 2006: Sharma, Pandey Bechan ("Ugra"): Chocolate and Other Stories on Male-Male Desire^[17]
• 2007: About Me (Apni Khabar) (autobiography of Pande Bechan Sharma Ugra)
• 2008: The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand
• 2013: Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth and Archana Varma
• 2021: My Family by Mahadevi Varma^[18]