Rajathi Salma

Rajathi Salma Biography

Rajathi Salma is a poetess and author belonging to Tamil literature. This Muslim poetess has given some significant contributions to social reforms in the modern times, and her name is counted among the best female writers of present times. She is also a columnist, social worker and speaker. She authored the novel - The Hours Past Midnight, for which she is known most. The book was long-listed for the Man Asian Booker Prize. Oru Maalaiyum Innoru Maalaiyum (2000) and Pachchai Devathai (2003) are her Tamil poetry collections which have been translated to English. Her novels - Irandaam Jaamangalin Kathai (2004) and Manaamiyangal (2016) too have been translated to English.

Rajathi Salma was born in 1968 in Thuvarankurichi in Tamil Nadu. At the age of 13, she was forced to stop her studies and she was married off by her parents. She belonged to a conservative Muslim family. She started writing only after that, and expressed her emotions in bits of paper and scarp paper, which she hid from others. She published her first work - Kala Chuvadu at the age of 17. She spent nearly two and a half decades of her life locked indoors against her will. She wrote secretly and lived in constant fear of getting caught.

She co-authored Salma: Filming a Poet in her Village with Kim Longinotto. Soon after her novel The Hours Past Midnight was long-listed for the Man Asian Booker Prize, she became a celebrated writer from Tamil Nadu. The documentary film Salma was based on her real life which tells her extraordinary story and struggles. She writes in an unpretentious style, as if writing for journals and her writings have won unanimous praises.

Published: September 04, 2018

Updated: September 04, 2018