![]() Anita Desai's work is a part of new style of writing, which came out of less conservative writings of India as Indian writings have been in the past. For sensitive portrayal of the inner life of her female characters, this Indian novelist and short story writer is eminent. Desai explores the tension between the family members and the lack of correlation of middle class women in several novels. Early Life of Anita Desai Anita Desai was born to a German mother and an Indian Father in India June 24, 1937. She teaches writing at Mount Holyoke College in United States. She was born as Anita Mazumdar. She grew up speaking German at home and Bengali at home. She learned to read and write in English at school, which became her literary language. Anita Mazumdar married Ashvin Desai in the year 1957. They have four children from their marriage. Kiran Desai, the author and winner of the 2006 Booker prize is her daughter. Anita Desai as a Writer ![]() Awards and Recognition of Anita Desai Through out her career as a writer she won several awards. She won Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize in the year 1978, Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1983, Neil Gunn Prize in 1993, Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature in 2000 and Benson Medal of Royal Society of Literature in 2003. She has been short listed three times for Booker Prize. Anita Desai has been a member of the Advisory Board for English of the national Academy of Letters in Delhi. She has also been a member of the American academy of Arts and Letters. Anita Desai is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in London. Desai has commented on her work: "My novels are no reflection of Indian society, politics or character. They are my private attempt to seize upon the raw material of life." She has dealt with themes like German anti-Semitism, western stereotypical views of India and the demise of the tradition. Her novels reveal the characters though imaginary but are realistic in approach as she says, "I aim to tell the truth about any subject, not a romance or fantasy, not avoid the truth." |
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Anita Desai, Indian Writer