Srutimala Duara

{{Infobox writer

| name = Srutimala Duara

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| birth_date = {{circa|1965}}

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| death_date = {{death date and given age|2023|02|27|57|df=y}}

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| occupation = Associate professor, writer

| language = English and Assamese

| nationality = Indian

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| genre = Fiction, children's literature, poetry, nonfiction, memoir

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| notableworks = Traveling with Dreams

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| awards = Woman of the Year 2016
Indian Women Achievers Award in Literature 2021

| website = {{url|srutimaladuara.in}}

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Srutimala Duara ({{circa|1965}} – 27 February 2023) was an Indian academician and bilingual writer from Assam. She wrote novels, short stories, and children's literature in English and Assamese, and poetry in English.{{cite news |title=Importance of being bilingual |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639450435/STND |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=Assam Tribune |date=October 14, 2020|via=Gale}} She was an associate professor and head of the English department of Handique Girls College, Guwahati. In 2021, she was awarded the Indian Women Achievers Award in Literature by the Asian Literary Society.

Biography

Duara published novels, collections of short stories, children's literature, and essay collections in English and Assamese.{{cite web |title=Books |url=http://www.srutimaladuara.com/book.html |website=Srutimala Duara |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326075358/http://www.srutimaladuara.com/book.html |archive-date=March 26, 2022 |url-status=dead}} She also wrote six anthologies of poetry in English.

She was an Associate Professor and head of the department of English of Handique Girls College, Guwahati.{{cite news |title='Female Author-ity'- A Collection of Critical Essays from a Female Perspective Launched in Guwahati |url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/guwahati-city/female-author-ity-a-collection-of-critical-essays-from-a-female-perspective-launched-in-guwahati-524557 |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=The Sentinel Assam |date=13 February 2021}}{{cite news |title=Resume of Professors: Dr. Srutimala Duara |url=https://www.hgcollege.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/Faculty/Srutimala-Duara.pdf |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=www.hgcollege.edu.in}}

Duara was a founder member{{cite web |title=Members |url=https://www.newf.co.in/members/ |website=Northeast Writers Forum |access-date=15 October 2022}} and has been the secretary and treasurer of Northeast Writers' Forum, an organization with eight chapters in the Northeast of India.{{cite news |title=Writers' Forum organises 'Cultures of Peace' |work=Assam Tribune |date=25 October 2015|id={{ProQuest|1726770521}}}}{{cite news |title=New committee of NE Writers' Forum formed |work=Assam Tribune |date=14 February 2018|id={{ProQuest|2001483440}}}}{{cite news |title=Literally stimulating |url=http://www.assamtribune.com/nov1309/mosaic1.html |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=The Assam Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814053030/http://www.assamtribune.com/nov1309/mosaic1.html |archive-date=14 August 2012}}

Duara also recited poetry, and her CD of recited Assamese poetry "Ekajoli Kobita" was released in 2015.{{cite news |title=CD released |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A408330749/STND |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=Assam Tribune |date=4 April 2015|via=Gale}} She has recited and acted in two poetry videos "Smriti" and "Sagar" published on YouTube.

Duara also wrote for The Times of India, The Hindu, and The Assam Tribune.

Duara died from ovarian cancer on 27 February 2023, at the age of 57.{{cite news |title=Assam: Author Srutimala Duara dies at 57 after battle with cancer |url=https://theprint.in/india/assam-author-srutimala-duara-dies-at-57-after-battle-with-cancer/1404484/ |access-date=27 February 2023 |work=The Print |agency=PTI |date=27 February 2023}}

Awards and honours

Duara was awarded the "Naari Shakti Award" by Lions Club in April 2015. In 2016, she received the "Woman of the Year" award from the International Human Rights Council, Assam Chapter.{{cite news |title=Women's Day functions held in city|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A445666797/STND |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=Assam Tribune |date=10 March 2016|id={{ProQuest|1771530192}}|via=Gale}} In 2021, she was awarded the Indian Women Achievers Award in Literature by the Asian Literary Society.

Bibliography

=Novels=

Traveling with Dreams (Spectrum, 2001){{cite journal |last1=Das |first1=Debarati |title=Depiction of Insurgency in Duara's Travelling with Dreams |journal=Writers Editors Critics |date=2019 |volume=9 |issue=1|via=EBSCOhost}}{{cite book |author1=Sonal Singh |title=Interface: A National Research Anthology on Indigenous Language, Literature & Culture |date=2021 |publisher=Book Rivers |isbn=9789391000219 |pages=284–292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F01WEAAAQBAJ |access-date=16 October 2022 |chapter=Unrest of Desires: Facets of Reality in Srutimala Duara's Travelling with Dreams}}
Maya's Party (BR Publishing Corp, 2003)
Ashes in the Seas (BR Pub Corp, 2003)

=Short story collections=

The Sunset and Other Stories (Spectrum, 1998)
Waiting for the Last Breath (Spectrum, 1999)
The Jhoolan Evening (Spectrum, 2000)

=Poetry collections=

By the Brahmaputra and Other Poems (2018){{cite news |title=Collection of poems released |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A563320108/STND |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=Assam Tribune |date=25 November 2018|via=Gale}}
Along my Route (2020){{cite news |title=Along my Route: Srutimala Duara's book of poems earns high praise from critics |url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/guwahati-city/along-my-route-srutimala-duaras-book-of-poems-earns-high-praise-from-critics-481019 |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=The Sentinel Assam |publisher=Sentinel Digital Desk |date=5 June 2020 |language=en}}

=Children's books=

Sadhukathar Desh (1995)
Sadhukathar Bagicha (1996)
Sadhukathar Tupula (1996)
Dhekura Kukurar Club (2019){{cite news |title=Children's novel on street dogs released |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A568222125/STND |access-date=15 October 2022 |work=Assam Tribune |date=3 January 2019|via=Gale}}

=Nonfiction=

(editor) Assam: Myriad Perspectives (Spectrum, 2014){{cite news |title=New arrivals: English books |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/new-arrivals-english-books/article6673545.ece |access-date=16 October 2022 |work=The Hindu |date=8 December 2014}}
My Journey Through Cancer (2022){{cite news |title=Prominent Academician Srutimala Duara Passes Away |url=https://newslivetv.com/prominent-academician-srutimala-duara-passes-away/ |access-date=28 February 2023 |work=News Live |date=February 27, 2023}}