Ananda Devi

She has created an almost mystical poetic universe that is unlike any other in this geographic region.

She was born in Mauritius in 1965. In 1982, she earned a bachelor´s degree and a PhD degree in Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.  However, her literature skills were apparent at a young age with her first literary award for the best Francophone story.

Her first book of stories appeared when she was only 19 years old. Since then, she has published stories and novels, creating a poetic and almost mystical work. Her Indian origins are responsible for a mysticism that is present in all her writings, an eternal confrontation between man and destiny.

She is considered to be one of the most important voices from the Indian Ocean. With her publications, she has known how to conquer the expectations of a demanding Francophone audience. Her writing, vigorous and elegant, her tortured heroins, the omnipresent Indo-Mauritian context in her works create an almost mystical poetic universe that is unlike any other from this geographic region. Her incisive, lyrical and penetrating style, written in French, integrates Creole and Hindi.

Her works include: Solstices (1977), Le poids des êtres (1987), Rue la poudrière (1989), Le voile de Draupadi (1993), L'arbre fouet (1997), Moi, l'interdite (2000), Pagli (2001), Suspiro (2002), La vie de Joséphin le fou (2003), Ève de ses décombres (2006), Indian Tango (2007) and Le sari vert (2009).

Sources:

• Book titled Mercado de historias: relatos y poemas de África y el Caribe (Market of Tales: Short Stories and Poems from Africa and the Caribbean), 2003

• Information in the Festival Time of the Writers 2008 website

For more information:

• The author´s bibliography

• Consult the availability of records in the Casa África Mediateca (Media Library)