Maitreyi Pushpa

In the past nine years, she has become the urgent voice of blood, sweat and tears fiction about Bundelkhand and its people, especially the trodden but strong-willed women. Breaking convention, setting rules, she has to her credit five novels (Idannamum and Chaak being novels of note) and three collections of short stories.

Born in Sikurar Village, Aligarh district, UP, Maitreyi Pushpa is a recipient of many Awards, she has written consistently about rural India, keeping Panchayats as a central issue in her stories, and has endeavoured to explore the web of human relationships in a time of moral ambivalence and social uncertainty. She is the recipient of many accolades including the SAARC Literary Award for Alma Kabutari, the Premchand Samman and the Sahityakar Samman.

In her words, "Women have come a long way from their position of subordination to carving out a niche for themselves. They have had to bear harassment and torture to bring about this change. There are hopes resting on the new generation that they will be able to take up the challenges of the day and take this movement forward."

Her latest title with Katha, "Alma Kabutari" has been translated from Hindi, by Raji Narasimhan.