Indira Goswami Biography and latest books by Indira Goswami

Indira Goswami (also known by pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami) was an Assamese editor, poet, professor, scholar and writer. She has been honoured with many literary awards like the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Jnanpith Award and Principal Prince Claus Laureate. Her novels The Moth Eaten Howdah of the Tusker, Pages Stained With Blood and The Man from Chinnamasta are some of the critically acclaimed works by her.


Indira had made several attempts to bring about social change, both through her writings and through her role as mediator between United Liberation Front of Assam and the central government of India. However, all along she referred to herself as an "observer" of the ongoing peace process rather than a mediator or initiator.


Indira Goswami was born to a Brahmin family in Guwahati. She completed her schooling from the Pine Mount School in Shillong. She went on to earn a degree in Assamese literature from Cotton College in Guwahati. In 1962, she published her first collection of short stories, Chinaki Morom, when she was still studying.


Two main features of Goswami\'s writings have been the portrayal of women and the cultural and the concentration of the political system of the Assamese society. She is credited to have created possibly one of the finest male characters in contemporary Assamese literature, viz. the character of Indranath in The Moth Eaten Howdah of a Tusker.