1. Ilavenil Meena Kandasamy was born on 1984 and is an Indian poet, fiction writer, translator and activist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
14 Facts About Meena Kandasamy
1. 2.
Meena Kandasamy 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.
3.
Meena Kandasamy writes columns for platforms including Outlook India and The Hindu.
4.
Meena Kandasamy completed a Doctorate of Philosophy in Socio-linguistics from Anna University, Chennai.
5.
Meena Kandasamy began writing poetry at the age of 17 and began translating books by Dalit writers and leaders into English.
6.
Meena Kandasamy says, "Poetry is not caught up within larger structures that pressure you to adopt a certain set of practices while you present your ideas in the way that academic language is," and thus, prefers to use it for her activism.
7.
Meena Kandasamy's poetry is "about the female self and body in ways not 'allowed' by this discourse".
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Meena Kandasamy's work has been published in anthologies and journals that include Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry, The Little Magazine, Kavya Bharati, Indian Literature, Poetry International Web, Muse India, Quarterly Literary Review, Outlook, Tehelka and The New Indian Express.
9.
Meena Kandasamy was invited to participate in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2009 Two years later, Meena was made the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Kent.
10.
Meena Kandasamy was a featured poet at the City of Asylum Jazz Poetry Concert held in Pittsburgh, the 14th Poetry Africa International Festival, Durban, and the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.
11.
Meena Kandasamy co-authored AYYANKALI: A Dalit leader of Organic Protest, a biography of Ayyankali, a dalit leader in Kerala.
12.
Meena Kandasamy was shortlisted among 21 short fiction women writers aged less than 40 from South Asia for an anthology published by Zubaan Books, New Delhi.
13.
Meena Kandasamy attended the festival and spoke in support of it.
14.
Meena Kandasamy made her acting debut in the 2014 Malayalam film Oraalppokkam.