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writer of strange fiction
researcher of the speculative and the sublime
Shreya Ila Anasuya
ABOUT
I am a writer and researcher from Kolkata, India. I now live in London and Leeds, and I write fiction across genres, including and especially historical and fantasy fiction. My work explores – among other things – history, performance, the supernatural, gender, the body, grief, liminal spaces, cultural memory, music and the senses.
I am also a researcher who writes non-fiction, and currently a PhD candidate at King's College London, where I look at the intersection between performance, gender and storytelling in early 20th century South Asia. I am especially interested in gendered performance histories, ephemera, and what (as well as who) is considered worth archiving.
Throughout my career, I have variously worked as an editor, journalist, teacher, and performance artist.
Living with endometriosis and complex PTSD have both shaped and affected my work and person.​ I am bonded, in this life and beyond, to my baby – a calico cat named Begum.
Debut Novel
Eka is no one. Taken from her mother and village, she is brought to Pataliputra, in the heart of the Magadh Empire, and adopted by the city’s foremost courtesan. She becomes someone again – a cherished daughter, and a performer in training, singing the wondrous music that is her inheritance.
But that is not all Eka will be. Fate puts her on the path of the vishkanya, or poison girl. Eka and her friend Ira are initiated into the secret cult of a snake goddess, fed a diet of poison, and trained in its deadly arts – all in
service of their king.
When Alexander the Great sweeps inexorably towards their lands, the friends are sent to infiltrate his camp. Caught between her sense of duty to Magadh and her love for Ira, and transformed by what she witnesses,
Eka must reach for the power within her that will change a world…
Written in sensual, mythic prose,
The Poison Palace blends historical and speculative fiction to retell the story of Alexander’s invasion as it has never been told before.
Out in 2027 with
Dutton US, Sphere UK, Hachette India
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'Such an unusual, intelligent and lucidly written book, which opens up an old story with the most surprising glints and insights.'
Ruth Padel
‘An intimate epic – two women journey from the margins of history to stand against the greatest of conquerors. A story of power, love, survival and resistance, meticulously researched, lyrically written and structurally ambitious. A stunning debut.’
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Samit Basu
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'Shreya Ila Anasuya's The Poison Palace unfolds the era of Alexander the Great's conquering rampage across Eurasia with a graceful, fiery verisimilitude both intimate and mythic, starting from the Indian subcontinent and stretching all the way to ancient Babylon – it resounds in time, and sings to the present with a singular voice. Don't miss it.'
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Indra Das
'The Poison Palace is a dazzling debut that takes you on a tumultuous journey from the courtyard of a courtesan in ancient India to the punishing deserts of Iran and finally, Babylon where Alexander was felled. Shreya Ila Anasuya has entwined fantasy with myth and history to give us a novel as rare as the fabled snake-jewel. It will doubtless snag readers in both East and West.'
Annie Zaidi
Short Fiction
Magic Has No Borders (HarperCollins US, 2023)
SHE WHO ANSWERS
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Infinite Constellations (FC2/University of Alabama Press, 2023)
PLAYING MACBETH AT THE ELECTRA THEATRE ON BEADON STREET
Deep Dives (2023)
DEMIMONDE
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (2022)
MOTHER, MOTHER
Strange Horizons (2021)
AN ARRAY OF WORLDS UNFURLING AS A ROSE IN TIME
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Sword and Kettle Press (2021)
ENCOUNTERS WITH WOLVES, IN THREE ACTS
Magical Women, Hachette India (2019)
GUL
(Reprinted in: 100 INDIAN STORIES; A CASE OF INDIAN MARVELS; TASAVVUR)
(Translated into Bangla: ANYA BASANTER UPAKHYAN)
Grants, Awards, Fellowships, Residencies
2026
The Milford Bursary for Writers of Colour (UK)
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2024
The Society of Authors/Authors' Foundation Grant for Work in Progress (UK)
2023
BFE Fieldwork Grant Award (UK)
The Gerry Farrell Travelling Scholarship by SEMPRE (UK)
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2022
The British Science Fiction Association Awards (Longlist) (UK)
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2021
The London Arts and Humanities Partnership Studentship (UK)
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2020
The Otherwise Fellowship (formerly the Tiptree Fellowship) (USA)
The Sangam House Residency (India)
2019
The Toto Award for Creative Writing in English (India)
2018
The Toto Award for Creative Writing in English (Shortlist) (India)
The South Asia Laadli/UNFPA Award for Skin Stories (India)
The Social Media for Empowerment Award for Skin Stories (India)
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2017
The UNFPA-Population First Laadli Fellowship for Journalism (India)
The UNFPA-Population First Laadli Media Award (Three-time winner, since 2015)
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2011
The Felix Scholarship (India/UK)
The Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship for Creative Writing (India/UK)
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Selected Events and Teaching
2026
BA/MA GTA seminars for Topics in Music of the 20th-21st Centuries, King's College London (UK)
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A conversation with Rebecca Beattie about a cultural history of planetary powers in South Asia for Treadwell's Books (UK)
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​2025
Talk about Saleem Kidwai and Begum Akhtar for the Mahindra Sanatkada Festival and Studio Bari Kolkata (India)
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Guest Lecture for BA Languages and Cultures module The Art of Storytelling, SOAS University of London (UK)
​2024
Guest Lecture for MA Politics of Culture in Contemporary South Asia, SOAS University of London (UK)
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BA Arts and Sciences GTA seminars, University College London (UK)
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2023
Edinburgh International Book Festival, panel on Magic Has No Borders (UK)
Association of Writers & Writing Programs, panel titled ‘Speculating Us from Where We Stand: Writing Culture into Prose and Poetry’ on Infinite Constellations (USA/Online)
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2022
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, conference ‘Pushing Culture into Politics’, paper on research informing practice in creative writing (UK)
LAHP Practice-Based Research Network, reading from fiction and reflection on the intersection of creative writing and historiography (UK)
Ananke Women in Literature Festival panel on speculative fiction and South Asia (Online/Dubai/UK)
2020
HasGeek, panel on speculative fiction and women writers (India)
2019
Bangalore International Centre, panel on reading and writing speculative fiction in India (India)
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Indian Institute of Human Settlements, panel on writing speculative fiction (India)
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SNDT Women’s University, panel on digital writing, editing and publishing, and human rights (India)
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Other Lives
Essays, Reportage, Editing, and More
RESEARCH
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I have worked with organisations such as Quicksand, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and the Centre for Internet and Society as a researcher. My outputs have included reports and narrative essays on gender and surveillance, the intersections between reproductive rights and disability justice, and more.
CONTACT
I'm currently open to fiction and non-fiction commissions, guest editing, teaching and speaking opportunities.