Subversive Whispers

MANASI has been one of Malayalam's finest anti-patriarchal voices, reaching back to the 1960s. Her short stories have won her a very wide readership, and her short story collections have won several literary prizes, including the prestigious Kerala Sahitya Akademi award. She regularly contributes short stories, articles and poems to mainstream periodicals as well as critically acclaimed literary journals in Malayalam. The feature film Punaradhivasam, based on one of her short stories, won the state award for best story. Her stories have been translated into several languages such as Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, English and Hindi. She has also translated plays written by Shanta Gokhale and Ramu Ramanathan. She lives in Mumbai and works as a freelance copywriter for ad agencies. Manasi is actively involved with Asha for Education, a non-profit organization which promotes the education of underprivileged children. J DEVIKA is a feminist historian, social researcher and translator, currently with the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She translates literary writing from Malayalam to English and social science writing from English to Malayalam. She has translated the literary writings of K.R. Meera, Sarah Joseph, Unni R., Ambikasuthan Mangad and Lalithambika Antharjanam, among others. Her website, www. swatantryavaadini.in, is a collection of translations of the writings of early twentieth-century feminists in Malayalam-speaking regions.