Eunice de Souza

Eunice de Souza (August 1, 1940 – July 29, 2017) was an Indian English language poet, literary critic and novelist. Among her notable books of poetry are Women in Dutch painting (1988), Ways of Belonging (1990), Nine Indian Women Poets (1997), These My Words (2012), and Learn From The Almond Leaf (2016). She published two novels, Dangerlok (2001), and Dev & SImran (2003), and was also the editor of a number of anthologies on poetry, folktales, and literary criticism.

Eunice de Souza
BornEunice de Souza
August 1, 1940
Pune, India
DiedJuly 29, 2017(2017-07-29) (aged 76)
Mumbai, India

Early life and education

Eunice de Souza was born and grew up in Pune, in a Goan Catholic family.[1] She studied English literature with an MA from Marquette University[2] in Wisconsin, and a PhD from the University of Mumbai. She taught English at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, and was Head of the Department until her retirement. She was involved in the well-known literary festival, Ithaka, organized at the college. She was involved in theater, both as actress and director, and began writing novels with her first, Dangerlok, published in 2001. She also wrote four children's books.

She hints at an ancestral Portuguese conversion in the poem de Souza Prabhu:

No, I'm not going to
delve deep down and discover
I'm really de Souza Prabhu
even if Prabhu was no fool
and got the best of both worlds.
(Catholic Brahmin!
I can hear his fat chuckle still.)[3]

Aside from poetry and fiction, de Souza edited numerous anthologies and collections and wrote a weekly column for the Mumbai Mirror. Her poetry is also included in Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry [4]( United States).

She died on July 29, 2017, and was remembered as an inspiration to younger people.[5]

Works

Poetry

  • Fix. (1979)
  • Women in Dutch Painting. (1988)
  • Ways of Belonging. (1990)
  • Selected and New Poems. (1994)
  • A Necklace Of Skulls. (2009)
  • Learn from the Almond Leaf (Poetrywala, 2016)
  • "Advice to Women " (1994)

Novels

  • Dangerlok. (Penguin, 2001)[6][7]
  • Dev & Simran: A Novel. (Penguin, 2003) review

Interviews

  • Conversations with Indian Poets. (OUP, 2001) ISBN 978-0-19-564782-2

Edited

  • Nine Indian Women Poets: An Anthology. (OUP, 2001) ISBN 978-0-19-565847-7
  • 101 Folktales From India. (2004)
  • Purdah: An Anthology. (OUP, 2004) ISBN 0-19-566661-5
  • Women's Voices: Selections from Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Indian Writing in English. (Co-edited with Lindsay Pereira, OUP, 2004) ISBN 978-0-19-566785-1 review
  • Early Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology 1829-1947. (OUP, 2005) ISBN 978-0-19-567724-9 review
  • The Satthianadhan Family Album. (Sahitya Akademi, 2005) review
  • These My Words: The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry (Co-edited with Melanie Silgardo, Penguin 2012)

See also

Eunice de Souza - Critical Biography

References
  1. "EUNICE DE SOUZA". arlindo-correia.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  2. "The Wondering Minstrels (Poet)". Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  3. Arvind K Mehrotra, ed. (1993). The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-562867-5. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)p. 119
  4. "Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry". BigBridge.Org. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. "Remembering Aunty Nonie". 29 July 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  6. "The Hindu : The swirl and the sprawl". Archived from the original on 22 January 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. http://www.ndtv.com/ent/bookextracts.asp?id=29&slug=Dangerlok. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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