Kamala Das, one of the best-known bilingual writers from India in the twentieth century, consistently pushed the boundaries of what could be represented in literature through her poetry in English, autobiographical writings and novellas in English and Malayalam, and a large body of short stories in Malayalam. Through the conscious deployment of the confessional voice in her poetry and life writings and the intricate entanglement of the public and the private in her fictional worlds, Das carved a space for the explorations of the affective realm and physicality in modern Indian literature.

Kamala Das’s exposure to books and literary production came at an early age through her mother, Nalappat Balamaniyamma, a prolific poet, and her maternal uncle, Nalappat Narayana Menon, a prominent writer and translator.