Interview with Bama

Bama Faustina Soosairaj popularly known by their first name is a Tamil Dalit-feminist teacher and novelist. Born into a Christian Dalit Family, she self-coined her penname ‘Bama’. She rose to fame with her autobiographical novel Karukku in 1992, which focuses on the struggles faced by Dalit Christian women in Tamil Nadu. Karukku was one of the first autobiographical publications by a Dalit woman writer. Despite the backlash she received, Bama went on to win the Crossword Book Award in 2000 for Karukku. Her writing focuses mainly on caste and gender-based discrimination. She also highlights the educational gaps that exist in society due to caste. Her other works include Kusumbukkaran and Sangati. Her work is widely read and is taught in various Universities. In their interview with us, Bama reflects on how the audience’s response has shifted towards their work and the potential Dalit literature holds.
Interviewer: Sanjeev Gumpenapalli
For Dalit Art Archives

[@Harani_K]

Thank you for this video..useful to my project work🥰