Malathi Maithri was selected by Tamil poet Kutti Revathi for the special edition of PIW India, ‘Poets on Poets’.

Writer, feminist and activist Malathi Maithri (born 1968) is recognised as an important contemporary Tamil poet. She hails from Puducherry State in southern India. Her very first short story, ‘Prayanam’, was published in Kaniayazhi, a premier literary magazine, in 1988. This has been followed by the publication of three books of poetry and a collection of essays. She has co-edited Paraththal Adhan Sudhandiram (Flying is Its Freedom), an anthology of literary works, and Anangu (Woman), a collection of essays.

Nitoo Das was selected by poet Meena Kandasamy for the special edition of PIW India, ‘Poets on Poets’.

Nitoo Das (born 1972) teaches English at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. She runs a blog that began as an experiment over three years ago while working on a research project on poetry as hypertext. Her interests include fractals, caricatures, comic books, horror films, and studies of online communities. Boki, her first collection, has just been published by the Virtual Artists Collective, Chicago.

 Rituraj was selected by Hindi poet and editor Mangalesh Dabral for the special edition of PIW India, ‘Poets on Poets’.

Rituraj (born 1940) is a senior poet in Hindi. He began his writing career in the mid 1970s and has ten collections of poetry to his credit. Born in Rajasthan, he did his Masters in English and went on to spend almost thirty-five years of his life as a teacher. After his retirement, he worked as a foreign-language expert with China Radio International for three years. Based in Bundi (Rajasthan), Rituraj has spent most of his life away from the big cities – a fact that has had an enduring impact on his poetry. Several awards have been conferred upon him including the prestigious Pahal Samman, Meera Puraskar, Sudhindra Puraskar and Bihari Puraskar. He is currently at work on an anthology of women-centric poems entitled Mashuq.

Sachin Ketkar was selected by Marathi poet Hemant Divate for the special edition of PIW India, ‘Poets on Poets’.

Sachin Ketkar (born 1972) is a writer, translator and critic, based in Baroda, Gujarat. He has authored two collections of poems – one in Marathi and one in English – and has translated and edited an anthology of contemporary Marathi poetry, entitled Live Update. He has worked on translating fiction and poetry from Gujarati and Marathi into English. His translation projects have focused on the work of Gujarati short fiction writers, Nazir Mansuri and Mona Patrawala, as well as 15th-century Gujarati poet, Narsinh Mehta. He holds a doctorate in translation studies and works as a Reader in the Department of English at the MS University, Baroda. He is also a contributing editor for New Quest, a journal for participatory cultural enquiry in Mumbai.

Vinod Kumar Shukla was selected by Hindi poet Mangalesh Dabral for the special edition of PIW India, ‘Poets on Poets’.

Vinod Kumar Shukla (born 1937) is a distinguished writer of Hindi poetry and fiction. He has published three novels, several short stories and numerous collections of poetry. His novel, Naukar Ki Kameez (published in English translation by Penguin India) was turned into a film of the same name by Indian filmmaker, Mani Kaul. Vinod Kumar Shukla’s contribution to Hindi literature has earned him a number of awards, including the Shikhar Samman, the Muktibodh Fellowship and the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for his novel, Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi (A Window lived in a Wall). He lives in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, and was Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur.