Anita Desai
A renowned English novelist, Anita Desai was born in 1937 in Mussoorie, a hill station in Uttaranchal. In her writings, she gives more emphasis on female characters. Anita Desai started to write in English at the age of seven, and published her first story at the age of nine. She was educated in Delhi at Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School and Delhi University, where she received a bachelor degree in English literature (in 1957).
Clear Light of Day, Baumgartner's Bombay, Journey to Ithaca, and In Custody are her famous books. The novels, In Custody (1984) and Fasting, Feasting were short listed for the Booker Prize. 'In Custody' was made into a film by Merchant Ivory productions. Anita was awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Award for her children's book 'The Village by the Sea.' The book 'Fire on the Mountain' (1977) won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize.
