Meena Kandasamy’s Profile

Contributing Editor, Dalit Literature

Meena Kandasamy is one of the brightest young poets to emerge in the South in recent years, of whom the noted poet Kamala Das says: “Older by nearly half a century, I acknowledge the superiority of her poetic vision and wish her access to the magical brew of bliss and tears each true poet is forced to partake of…”

Born in 1984, Meena has served as the Editor of The Dalit, a bimonthly alternative magazine of Chennai in its first year of publication during 2001-2002. She has translated five books from Tamil to English: Talisman: Extreme Emotions of Dalit Liberation (Essays of Dalit Panthers of India General Secretary Thol. Thirumaavalavan, Samya, 2003); Uproot Hindutva: The Fiery Voice of the Liberation Panthers (Speeches of Thol. Thirumaavalavan, Samya, 2004); Love. Life. Lust. Loss.: 101 Real Life Stories of Migration and AIDS, Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society;  Challenge : Investigative Journalism under an Oppressive Regime authored by Nakkheeran R. R. Gopal; and Point Blank, poems by Tamil Eelam revolutionary poet Kasi Anandan. She also translated his collection of fables.

Meena Kandasamy’s essays and literary criticism have been published in magazines and journals such as  Biblio: A Review of Books, Communalism Combat, The Milli Gazette, Newsletter of the Indian Association for Women Studies, India Nest.com, Islamic Voice, The Rally, Meantime, The Media Hoot, Post-Colonial Web, and The Youth Express. Her poems have won first prizes in pan-Indian poetry contests and have been published widely in India and abroad.

She has majored in English Literature from University of Madras, and has enrolled for her Ph.D.