Kamal Desai (10 November 1928–17 June 2011) was an Indian novelist writing in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

. She was born in Yamkan Mardi in the

Belgaum district Belagavi district, formerly also known as Belgaum district, is a district in the state of Karnataka, India. The district is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka with hectares being used for commercial production. It has overtaken Mandya distri ...

. She studied in

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

, going on to complete a master's degree in Marathi at

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. Desai began writing in 1955 and retired to

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. She is best known for her 1975 novel ''Hat Ghalnari Bai'' (Woman Wearing a Hat).

Selected works

* ''Rang'' (Colours), stories (1962) * ''Ratrandin Amha Yuddhacha Prasang'' (We confront the war day and night), novel (1963) * ''Kala Surya'' (Dark sun), novel (1972) * ''Rang-2'', stories (1998)

References

1928 births Indian women novelists Indian women short story writers Marathi-language writers People from Belagavi district University of Mumbai alumni 20th-century Indian novelists Women writers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian short story writers Novelists from Karnataka 20th-century Indian women writers 2011 deaths {{India-writer-stub