These My Words: The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry

Melanie Silgardo was one of the founder members of the poetry publishing house Newground, Bombay. She has worked in publishing for many years, and has published two books of poetry.

Vaasanthi was educated at Mysore University and also attended summer school in Oslo. Her writing reflects a concern for human rights, gender issues and communal harmony. Among her better known works is Mounappuyal, translated into English as The Silent Storm, which was awarded the Punjab Sahitya Akademi Award in 1991. She was the editor of India Today’s Tamil edition for nine years, and is presently a consultant with the magazine. She lives and works as a freelance journalist and writer in Bangalore.