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

francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a melting pot of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious peoples. Mauritian is made up ...

author. 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

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 estimated population was 112,997, as of 31 December 2015. History Grand Po ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. Her father Balgopal and her mother Saraswaty were Indo-Mauritians of Telugu ancestry. She 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 media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

short story competition. She went on to study at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) 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 area ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

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. Her novel ''Eve de ses décombres'' won the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie in 2006, as well as several other prizes, and was adapted for the cinema by Sharvan Anenden and Harrikrisna Anenden. 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, the Prix Femina des lycéens. for ''Le rire des déesses''. For the totality of her work, she received the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature française of the Académie française, and in 2010 she was named

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The 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 the recognition of significant ...

by the French Government. In 2023, she was awarded both the

Prix de la langue française The is chronologically the first grand prix of the literary season in France. Established in 1986 by the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde in the department of Corrèze, this prize rewards the work of a personality of the literary, artistic or scientific ...

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.

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 **
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 * ''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) * ''Le Jour des cameléons'', novel (2023)

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