Anita Desai

Won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for her fable waken on the Mountain and her childrens book The Village by the Sea (1982), win the Guardian Childrens Fiction Award.Anita Desai is an Indian novelist and short story writer. She is known for her sensitive portrayal of the inner feelings of her female characters. Many of Anita Desais novels explore tensions in the midst of family members and the alienation of middle-class women. In her later novels, Anita Desai wrote on varied themes such as German anti-Semitism, the expiry of traditions, and Western stereotypical views of India.Anita Desai was born as Anita Mazumdar on June 24, 1937 in Mussoorie. Her mother was German and her father was Bengali. Anita Desai faultless her schooling from Queen Marys Higher Secondary School in Delhi and graduated in English literature from the University of Delhi (Miranda House).Anita Desai made her debut as novelist in 1963 with The Peacock. It was followed by Voices of the City (1965)- a sto ry slightly three siblings and their different ways of life in Calcutta. Her novel Fire on the Mountain (1977) won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. Anita Desais other works include Clear Light of Day (1980), In Custody (1984) and Fasting, feasting (1999), each of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In Custody was made into a film by Merchant bone productions. Her childrens book The Village by the Sea (1982), won the Guardian Childrens Fiction Award. Anita Desais most recent novel is The Zig Zag Way (2004), set in 20th century Mexico.Anita Desai is a Fellow of the princely Society of Literature, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and Clare Hall, Cambridge. Presently, Anita lives in the United States, where she is the John E. Burchard Professor of Writing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. See more at file///D/my%20research/Anita%20Desai%20Profile%20-%20Anita%20Desai%20Biography%20-%20Information%20on%20Indian%20Writ er%20Anita%20Desai.htmsthash.ULB7qt