Nabaneeta Dev Sen
IndiaAbout
Nabaneeta Dev Sen (1938–2019) was an acclaimed Bengali poet, novelist, essayist, children’s author, and scholar whose work explored women’s lives, cultural identity, family relationships, and social expectations. Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to two Bengali poets, she developed a literary voice distinguished by its intellectual depth, wit, and emotional openness. She studied English literature at Presidency College and comparative literature at Jadavpur University before pursuing further studies at Harvard University and Indiana University. Throughout her career, she published more than 80 books across numerous genres, including poetry, fiction, travel writing, literary criticism, and children’s literature. A committed feminist, she founded SOI, the Women Writers’ Association of West Bengal, to support women writers. Her honours included the Padma Shri in 2000 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999. Dev Sen remains an influential voice in modern Bengali literature, celebrated for combining humour, compassion, and a fearless examination of women’s experiences.
