Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises in British and Indian literary history with a focus on

gender and sexuality studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary discipline (academia), academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation (politics), representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's ...

. She also teaches and writes on

Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...

Early life and education

Vanita earned her BA, MA and PhD in English at

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

Career

From 1994 to 1997 Vanita was Reader in the Department of English at Delhi University. She is now a professor of English and World Cultures at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

, where she directs the program in South & South-East Asian Studies. 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.

Major publications

Books

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

Edited volumes

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

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'' *2007: ''About Me (Apni Khabar)'' (autobiography of Pande Bechan Sharma Ugra) *2008: ''The Co-Wife and Other Stories by

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani language, Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer ...

'' *2013: ''Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth and Archana Varma'' *2021: ''My Family'' by Mahadevi Varma

References

External links

* Ayyar, Raj. (2001-03-05).
Reclaiming Gay India with Ruth Vanita
. ''GayToday''. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. * "Gay historians: Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai," ''QueerIndia'', 5 March 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanita, Ruth 1955 births Indian women science writers Indian lesbian writers Indian LGBTQ rights activists Indian LGBTQ writers Living people Postmodern feminists University of Montana faculty Writers from Delhi 20th-century Indian translators Indian social sciences writers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian social scientists 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Women writers from Delhi Historians of LGBTQ topics Indian women historians 21st-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian historians LGBTQ historians Lesbian academics Indian expatriate academics in the United States