Ananda Devi

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Ananda Devi
Devi in 2016

Ananda Devi Nirsimloo-Anenden, also known as Ananda Devi, (born March 23, 1957) is a Mauritian author writing mainly in French.[1][2] She is the 2024 recipient of the Neustadt Prize, known as the "American Nobel."

Biography

Ananda Devi Nirsimloo was born in Trois-Boutiques, a village in

School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where she obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology. In 1977, she published her début collection of short stories, Solstices. After spending several years in Brazzaville in the Congo, she moved to Ferney-Voltaire in 1989, the same year in which her first novel Rue la poudrière was published. This was followed by more novels: Le Voile de Draupadi in 1993, L'Arbre fouet in 1997 and, in 2000, Moi, l'interdite, which received the Prix Radio France du Livre de l'Océan Indien.[1][4]

Her novel Eve de ses décombres won the

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. In 2023, she was awarded both the Prix de la langue française and the Neustadt Prize
, cementing her reputation as a leading voice in French and world letters.

Devi is married to the film director Harrikrisna Anenden.[6][7]

Works

  • Solstices, short-story collection (1977)
  • Le poids des êtres, short-story collection (1987)
    • English translation "Lakshmi's Gift" by D.S. Blair in The Heinemann Book of African Women's Writing (1993)
  • Rue la Poudrière, novel (1988)
  • Le Voile de Draupadi, novel (1993)
  • La fin des pierres et des âges, short-story collection (1993)
  • L'Arbre-fouet, novel (1997)
  • Moi, L'Interdite, novel (2000)
  • Pagli, novel (2001)
    • English translation by Ananda Devi (Rupa Publishers, 2007)
  • Soupir, novel (2002)
  • La Vie de Joséphin le fou, novel (2003)
  • Le Long Désir, poetry collection (2003)
    • The Long Desire, English translation by Rachel Wysocki (2014)
  • Ève de ses décombres, novel (2006), winner of the Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie, the Prix RFO du livre, and the Prix Télévision Suisse Romande
  • Indian Tango, novel (2007)
    • Indian Tango, English translation by Jean Anderson (Host Publications, 2011; Random House India, 2013)
  • Le sari vert, novel (2009), winner of the Prix Louis-Guilloux
  • Quand la nuit consent à me parler, poetry collection (2011)
    • When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me, English translation by Kazim Ali (HarperCollins India, 2020; Deep Vellum, 2022)
  • Les hommes qui me parlent, autobiographical novel (2011)
  • Les Jours vivants, novel (2013)
    • The Living Days, English translation by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Feminist Press, 2019; Les Fugitives, 2020)
  • L'ambassadeur triste, short-story collection (2015)
  • Ceux du large, trilingual poetry collection (2017)
  • L'illusion poétique, short-story collection (2017)
  • Manger l'autre, novel (2018)
  • Danser sur tes Braises suivi de Six décennies, poetry collection (2020)
  • Fardo, short-story collection (2020)
  • Le Rire des déesses, novel (2021)
  • Deux malles et une marmite, autobiographical novel (2021)
  • Sylvia P., autobiographical essay on Plath and Hughes (2022)
  • Le Jour des cameléons, novel (2023)

References

  1. ^ a b "Ananda Devi". The Institute of Modern Languages Research. Archived from the original on 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2015-01-09.
  2. ^ "Ananda Devi Nirsimloo Anenden". WorldCat. Retrieved 2022-12-01.
  3. ^ "Ananda Devi : le conte d'une vie". Défimedia. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  4. ^ "Interview with Ananda Devi in Houston, TX". youtube.com. French Consulate of Houston. November 30, 2016.
  5. ^ Gabinari, Pauline (6 December 2021). "Ananda Devi, lauréate du Femina des lycéens 2021". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  6. S2CID 161247419
    . Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ^ Savripène, Marie-Annick. "Harrikrishna Anenden: Écrire avec la lumière en restant dans l'ombre". L'Express. Retrieved 2018-08-11.

External links