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A painting of a feminine figure wearing a blue skirt and yellow top and veil painted with their back
A picture of Shreya in a red dress looking towards her left with her face on her chin.

   

SHREYA ILA ANASUYA

                                                               writer of strange fiction

                                                               researcher of the speculative and the sublime

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ABOUT ME

I am a writer from Calcutta, India. I write fiction across genres, including and especially fantasy and horror. My work explores – among other things – history, the supernatural, gender, the body, grief, liminal spaces, music and the senses, as well as cultural memory. I am currently a PhD candidate in Cultural History and Creative Writing at King's College London. In other avatars and lives, I have worked as a researcher, editor, journalist, teacher, and performance artist. I am bonded, in this life and beyond, to my baby – a calico cat named Begum.

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FICTION

SHE WHO ANSWERS

2023

Magic Has No Borders (HarperTeen)

PLAYING MACBETH AT THE ELECTRA THEATRE ON BEADON STREET

2023

Infinite Constellations: Speculating Us

DEMIMONDE

2022

Deep Dives

MOTHER MOTHER

2022



The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

AN ARRAY OF WORLDS AS A ROSE UNFURLING IN TIME

2021



Strange Horizons

ENCOUNTERS WITH WOLVES,
IN THREE ACTS

2021



Cup and Dagger,
Sword and Kettle Press

GUL

2019



Magical Women, Hachette India
Reprinted in A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers, Aleph Book Company (2022)

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NEWS

A CASE OF INDIAN MARVELS

I'm pleased to share that my GUL (first published in MAGICAL WOMEN, Hachette India) is now out in A CASE OF INDIAN MARVELS: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers, by the Aleph Book Company. The story is dedicated to Saleem Kidwai, who introduced the stage adaptation of the story in Lucknow, where the story is set, and who supported it with his characteristic generosity.

THE INVENTION OF UMRAO

An essay on my newsletter, A Rose on the Threshold, in which I delve into literature, cinema and women’s performance history to understand the fictional courtesan Umrao Jaan, one of the most enduring heroines in the South Asian imagination.

STORY OUT IN FSF

My story about grief, goddesses, a forest and a girl, 'Mother Mother', is out in the May/June 2022 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

BSFA LONGLIST

I'm thrilled to share that my portal fantasy 'An Array of Worlds as a Rose Unfurling in Time' is now longlisted for the BFSA Awards 2021!

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HONOURS

OTHERWISE FELLOWSHIP

2020

SANGAM HOUSE RESIDENCY

2019

TOTO AWARD FOR CREATIVE WRITING

2019

UNFPA/POPULATION FIRST LAADLI MEDIA AWARDS

2015-2017

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"...absolutely marvelous: beautiful, wrenching, hopeful, and infused with both love and magic. A short story that feels like an epic love story... the prose is exquisite."

Maria Haskins

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“A poetic dance across the dividing line of urbanity and wilderness, unearthing a feral magic hiding just out of sight of the mundane.”

Indra Das, author of The Devourers

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OTHER LIVES

Essays, Reportage, Editing, and More

RESEARCH

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. 

SKIN STORIES



An award-winning digital publication – and an anthology of essays – about disability and chronic illness, which I edited for Point of View.   

WOMEN PERFORMERS



A dilruba, in Urdu, is a woman who steals hearts. Dastaan-e-dilrubai is my series for Firstpost about women performers from South Asian history. 

REPORTAGE



Writing, research and journalism on history/politics, gender/sexuality, and technology/society. Widely published in India and beyond. 

PERFORMANCE


'Gul' was adapted for the stage – with live music by Vidhya Gopal and kathak dance by Shinjita Roy, and dramaturgy/direction by Lopamudra Chatterjee. I narrated. We performed it across five cities in India. 

TEACHING AND SPEAKING


I have taught and spoken at a number of universities and festivals, including KC College, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Ashoka University, SNDT Women's University, and for organisations such as Oxfam. I teach workshops on creative writing and editing. 

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