Lakshmi Kannan

Kannan released three poetry collections in English from 1974 to 1985, authored three short story volumes between 1986 and 1993, and published a novel in 1998. She is particularly celebrated for her sharp, brief verses concerned with a woman's search for identity, the place of nature in human experience, or cultural identity. They frequently examine how women are viewed in Indian society, adopting an increasingly feminist tone. Her short stories are her own translations of their Tamil originals. They focus on the experiences of middle-class women in both India and abroad. There is however one exception in Muniyakka which deals with the lower classes.^[4] In her novel Going Home, also translated from the original Tamil, Kannan tells the nostalgic story of a housewife in Delhi who yearns for her affluent past. The tale constantly evokes the hypocrisy of cultured Tam Brahm communities.^[7]

• 1974: Impressions: Poems. Writers Workshop, Calcutta
• 1976: The Glow and the Grey: Poems. Writers Workshop, Calcutta
• 1985: Exiled Gods: Poems. Arnold-Heinemann, Delhi

• 1986: Rhythms: Short Fiction. Translated from the original Tamil by the author. Vikas, Delhi, ISBN 978-0-70693-053 5
• 1992: Parijata and Other Stories: Short Fiction. Translated from the original Tamil by the author, National Publishing House, Delhi, ISBN 978-81-214-0459-4
• 1993: India Gate and Other Stories: Short Stories. Translated from the original Tamil by the author, Orient BlackSwan Private Limited, Delhi, ISBN 978-0-86311-345-1

• 1998: Going Home: Novel. Translated from the original Tamil by the author. Orient BlackSwan Private Limited, Delhi, ISBN 978-81-250-1611-3

Kannan was married to L.V. Kannan, now deceased. She lives in New Delhi, India.^[6]