Kamala Das
Kamala Das (b. 1934) was born in Kerala. Her father was the editor of a popular Malayalam daily, and her mother a well known Malayalam poetess.
She was educated at home, married at the tender age of 15, and bore her first child at 16. She started writing professionally much later.
Kamala Das is bilingual, writing poetry and novels in both English and Malayalam. Her writings, and her life itself, have attracted controversy since long. Her autobiography My Story shocked her native Kerala with its candid narration of her encounters with different men.
In 1999, Kamala Das converted to Islam (and became Kamala Suraiya), claiming that only Islam could provide a woman love and protection. This action, predictably, resulted in a furore as she leads an active life in politics.
The list below does not include Kamala Das’s works in Malayalam which she has published under the nom de plume of Madhavikutty.
Works
- The Sirens
- Summer in Calcutta
- The Descendants
- The Old Playhouse and Other Poems
- My Story
- Alphabet of Lust
- The Anamalai Poems
- Padmavati the Harlot and Other Stories
- Only the Soul Knows How to Sing
- Yaa Allah