G. N. Devy

Former Professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information Technology, G. N. Devy writes in English, Marathi and Gujarati. He is the founder of the Bhasha Research Centre, Baroda and Adivasi Academy, Tejgadh and has worked extensively with Adivasis and nomadic communities in India. He led the People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI), a comprehensive documentation of all living Indian languages, forming a fifty-volume PLSI Series. He has received several awards for his writing as well as for his community work, including the Padma Shri, Prince Claus Award and Linguapax Award. Among his better known works are After Amnesia, Of Many Heroes, Painted Words and Nomad Called Thief, Vanaprastha (in Marathi) and Adivasi Jaane Chhe (in Gujarati). He has co-edited a series of six volumes on indigenous cultures and knowledge. As an activist, he played a leading role in the movement for the rights of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and more recently has initiated the Dakshinayan Movement of writers and artists. The author is based in Dharwad.