Photo of Mauritian Writer Ananda Devi (cropped)

Ananda Devi Nirsimloo-Anenden, also known as Ananda Devi, (born March 23, 1957) is a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably I ...

writer.

Biography

Ananda Devi Nirsimloo was born the village of Trois-Boutiques,

Grand Port District Grand Port () is a district of Mauritius, situated in the east of the island. The name means "large port" in French. The district has an area of 260.3 km2 and the population estimate was at 112,997 as of 31 December 2015. History Grand Po ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. Her father Balgopal and her mother Saraswaty were

Indo-Mauritian Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia. History During the administration of the French East India Company (until 1767) and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 work ...

s with

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

ancestry. Ananda Devi Nirsimloo grew up with her two sisters Soorya and Salonee. At the age of 15, she won a prize in a

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

short story competition. She went on to study at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she obtained a PhD in Social Anthropology. In 1977, she published a collection of short stories, ''Solstices''. After spending several years in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

in the Congo, she moved to

Ferney-Voltaire Ferney-Voltaire () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It lies between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss border; it forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva. History Ferney was first n ...

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. Her novel ''Eve de ses décombres'' won the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie in 2006, as well as several other prizes. It was adapted for the cinema by Sharvan Anenden and

Harrikrisna Anenden Harrikrisna Anenden (born 1947) is a Mauritian film director. Biography Anenden was born in Mauritius in 1947. He began taking photographs at age 12 and later moved to London to study medical photography. He graduated from the London Film School ...

. In 2007, Devi received the Certificat d'Honneur Maurice Cagnon du Conseil International d'Études Francophones. She has since won other literary prizes, including the Prix Louis Guilloux for ''Le Sari vert'', the Prix Ouest France Étonnants Voyageurs for ''Manger l'autre'', and, for the totality of her work, the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature française of the Académie française. In 2021, her novel ''Le rire des déesses'' was awarded the Prix Femina des lycéens. In 2010 she was named

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

by the French Government. Devi is married to the film director

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 des cinq continents de la francophonie (literally "Prize of the five continents of the francophonie") is a literary prize created in 2001 by the Organisation internationale de la francophonie. Winners References

{{La Francop ...

, the

Prix RFO du livre The prix RFO du livre was a French literary prize awarded annually from 1995 to 2010 by RFO to a Francophone work of fiction linked to French overseas departments and territories or surrounding geographical and geopolitical zones. List of reward ...

, and the Prix Télévision Suisse Romande **
Eve Out of Her Ruins
', English translation by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Deep Vellum, 2016; Les Fugitives, 2016; Speaking Tiger, 2017) * ''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 The prix Louis-Guilloux is a French literary award established in 1983 by the Conseil général of the Côtes-d'Armor with the writers Yvon Le Men, Yannick Pelletier (specialist of Louis Guilloux). The idea of this prie is "to perpetuate the lit ...

* ''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) ** English translation of "The Sad Ambassador" by Namrata Podda
published in collaboration with the Asian-American Writers' Workshop
(2015) ** English translation of "The Orchid" by Ananda Dev
published as part of the 2015 PEN World Voices Online Anthology
(2015) ** English translation of "Kari Disan" by Jeffrey Zuckerma
published as part of Words without Borders' May 2017 issue
(2017) * ''Ceux du large'', trilingual poetry collection (2017) * ''L'illusion poétique'', short-story collection (2017) ** English translation of "Weaving Dreams" by Jean Anderso
published as part of Words without Borders' May 2012 issue
(2012) * ''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)

References

External links

*
Interview with Ananda Devi at the Los Angeles Review of Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Ananda 1957 births Living people Mauritian novelists Mauritian poets Mauritian women writers Mauritian women short story writers Mauritian women novelists Mauritian women poets Mauritian people of Indian descent Alumni of SOAS University of London Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century Mauritian writers 21st-century Mauritian writers 20th-century women writers 21st-century women writers