About the Author

Usha Datar (1932-1988) was a fiction author from Maharashtra with roots in coastal  Konkan. She made a striking literary debut at the age of 42 and quickly earned praise for her lyrical prose and evocative storytelling. Over the next 14 years she wrote an astonishing 250- 300 short stories. Her writing was characterised by nuanced and sensitive portrayals of family dynamics, with a focus on female protagonists. Some of her notable short stories include Devpalan (1975) set against Konkan’s thriving occult subculture, and the acclaimed Kaaksparsha (1977), a harrowing portrayal of the invisible horrors of widowhood in pre-Independence Konkan. Kaaksparsha was later adapted eponymously for the screen and released to critical acclaim in 2012. Datar published four short story collections and four novels until her untimely death in 1988. More of her works were published posthumously.

About the Translator

Uma Shirodkar is a literary translator, editor and language educator working primarily between Marathi and English. She was a 2022 South Asia Speaks fellow and is particularly interested in underexplored genres in Marathi literature, including women authors and the critically neglected canon of weird and uncanny fiction. Her translations have appeared in Guernica Magazine, Hakara Journal and Gulmohur Quarterly. You can follow her work on Instagram here.