Sharanya Manivannan's Biography

Sharanya Manivannan was born in India in 1985 and grew up in Sri Lanka and Malaysia. She is a writer, spoken word artist, dancer, painter, actress, photographer and journalist and is working on her first novel, Constellation of Scars and a collection of poems, Witchcraft will be published this year by Bullfighter Books. Iyari, a handmade chapbook of poems and illustrations, was published in 2006.

Her solo show, Ochre As The Earth, held in June 2007, was a pioneering event in the Kuala Lumpur arts scene. As a spoken word artist, she has performed at dozens of venues in the last six years, from indie cafes to the Borobudur Temple in Indonesia. Her work negotiates the intricacies of imagined exile, combining the core concepts of ananku (Tamil), iyari (Huichol) and duende (flamenco), and has frequently been described as brutal, sensual and original.

Between August 2007 and February 2008, she has or will be performing and participating in the Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale in Indonesia, Singapore Writers’ Festival, Poetry With Prakriti in Chennai and Kitab in Mumbai. She lives in India and blogs at http://sharanyamanivannan.wordpress.com