In this episode, Sukanya discusses the themes of violence and women's rage in her novel 'Dark Things,' and the experience of editing 'Magical Women,' a feminist, fantasy anthology.
In this episode, Sukanya delves deep into the tradition of alluring women in mythical history (apsaras, sirens) and draws insights about women's rage against everyday experience of living under patriarchy. She comments on her focus on mythical women who have been largely misunderstood such as a Yakshi, magical nature spirits in Indian mythology. We then discuss the focus on Young Adult fiction in SFF and explore the scope of feminist commentary in fantasy writing.
About the Guest:
Sukanya Venkatraghavan is an Indian writer and journalist, partial to the fantasy genre of fiction. Her first novel Dark Things was on Amazon India’s Most Memorable Books of 2016. She is the editor of Magical Women, a feminist, fantasy anthology.
This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.
You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.