Vanamala Viswanatha

Vanamala Viswanatha, former Professor of English Studies, taught English for over four decades in several premier institutions in Bengaluru including Indian Institute of Science, Regional Institute of English, Bangalore University, and Azim Premji University. A bilingual scholar and translator, she has translated modern Kannada writers such as Tejasvi (1994), Vaidehi (1998), Sara Aboobacker (1999), U R Ananthamurthy (2001), and Lankesh (2003). Her repertoire includes the translations of ancient and medieval Kannada classics such as: the poetry of 12th century women saint poets in Vachana (2012); the 13th century poetic text by Raghavanka – The Life of Harishchandra (Harvard University Press, 2017); Indira Bai, the first social novel in Kannada by Gulvadi Venkata Rao (2019, OUP), and Kannada literary giant Kuvempu’s epic novel Bride in the Hills (Penguin Random House, 2024), and Vaddaradhane, a 10th century Jaina text (Harvard University Press, 2026). A Translation Fellow at Ashoka University, she is currently translating Lakshmisha Tolpadi’s meditative essays on the Mahabharata.