G. N. Devy

Dr. G. N. Devy retired as Professor of English from M. S. University in Baroda in 1996 to devote himself full time to tribal development. An accomplished scholar, he has since become an effective activist for tribal autonomy and cultural renewal. Major Publications include: Critical Thought, co-edited with S. K. Desai, Sterling : 1987; After Amnesia : Tradition & Change in Indian Literary Criticism, 1992, Orient Longman; Rpt 1995; In Another Tongue, Peter Lang, 1992, Macmillan India, 1995; Of Many Heroes : An Essay on Literary Historiography, Orient Longman, 1997; India between Tradition and Modernity, co-edited Sage, 1997; Adivasi Jane Chhe (The Tribal Knows), Bhasha Publications, 2001; Indian Literary Criticism : Theory & Interpretation, Orient Longman, 2002;  Painted Words : Literature of Adivasis and Denotified Tribals, Penguin, 2002; For a Nomad Called Thief, Orient Longman, 2006; Vanaprasthan (In Marathi), Padmagandha Publishers, Pune, 2006.

Devy is General Editor for a 50 volume series on Literature in Indian Tribal Languages under the Sahitya Akademi Project (18 Volumes Published till 2006), and has authored approximately 120 research articles in journals and anthologies in India and outside India. He contributes frequently to newspapers The Times of India and The Hindu. He has founded and edited three magazines: Setu (English & Gujarati) A Journal of Literary Translation 1983-90; Dhol:  A Journal of Tribal Dialects in 10 editions 1998 to date; Budhan (English):  A Journal of Denotified & Nomadic Tribes, 1998 to date. He has received numerous awards, including the1992 Katha Award for Translation; 1994 Central Sahitya Academi Award for After Amnesia; 1999 Gunther Sontheimer Award for Innovative Cultural Work; 2001 SAARC Literary Award for Innovative Contribution to  Literature  and Social Reform; 2003 Prince Claus Award (Netherlands); 2006 Bhasha  Bharati Award for book in Gujarati, Aadivaasi Jaane Chhe. He has founded several important institutions: Bhasha Research & Publication Centre,1996 for the study of Tribal Languages, Literature and Arts; Adivasi Academy, Tejgadh, 1999 for Research and Training in Tribal Studies; Denotified & Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group, 1998, a national network of activists for the human rights of the nomadic communities.