Ruth Vanita

Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She also teaches and writes on Hindu philosophy.

Early life and education
Vanita earned her BA, MA and PhD in English at Delhi University.

Career
From 1994 to 1997 Vanita was Reader in the Department of English at Delhi University. She is now a professor of English and World Cultures at the University of Montana, where she directs the program in South & South-East Asian Studies.

While living in Delhi in 1978, Vanita co-founded Manushi: A Journal about Women and Society, a journal that combined academic research and grassroots activism. She served as the journal's unpaid, volunteer co-editor from 1979 to 1991.

Books

 * 1994: A Play of Light: Selected Poems
 * 1996: Sappho and the Virgin Mary: Same-Sex Love and the English Literary Imagination
 * 2005: Love's Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West
 * 2005: Gandhi's Tiger and Sita's Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Culture
 * 2012: Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India 1780-1870
 * 2017: Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema
 * 2020: Memory of Light (a novel)
 * 2022: The Dharma of Justice: Debates on Gender Varna and Species
 * 2023: The Broken Rainbow: Poems and Translations

Edited volumes

 * 1991 (ed. with Madhu Kishwar): In Search of Answers: Indian Women's Voices from Manushi
 * 2000 (ed. with Saleem Kidwai): Same-Sex love in India: Readings from Literature and History
 * 2002 (ed.): Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society
 * 2014 (ed.): India and the World: Postcolonialism, Translation and Indian Literature – Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Trivedi

Translations

 * 1994: Yadav, Rajendra: Strangers on the Roof, translated by Ruth Vanita, Penguin India, 1994 (updated edition with a new introduction 2014)
 * 1997: Detha, Vijay Dan. Dilemma and Other Stories
 * 2003: Bhandari, Mannu: The Great Feast (Mahabhoj)
 * 2006: Sharma, Pandey Bechan ("Ugra"): Chocolate and Other Stories on Male-Male Desire
 * 2007: About Me (Apni Khabar) (autobiography of Pande Bechan Sharma Ugra)
 * 2008: The Co-Wife and Other Stories by Premchand
 * 2013: Alone Together: Selected Stories of Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth and Archana Varma
 * 2021: My Family by Mahadevi Varma