Nskschool at 04:37, 29 April 2026

2026-04-29T04:37:57Z

New page

{{short description|Indian writer (1941–2014)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Jyotsna Milan
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1941|07|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Mumbai]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|05|04|1941|07|19|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Bhopal]], India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = {{Cslist|Novelist|short story writer|poet|editor}}
| yearsactive =
| language = {{Cslist|[[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]|[[Hindi]]}}
| alma_mater = {{plainlist}}
*[[University of Bombay]] (MA)
*Awadhesh Pratap Singh University (MA)
{{endplainlist}}
| known for =
| spouse = [[Ramesh Chandra Shah]]
| relatives = [[Jyotindra Jain]] (brother)
| parents =
| website =
| awards =
}}

'''Jyotsna Milan''' (19 July 1941 – 4 May 2014) was an Indian novelist, short story writer, poet and editor. She published two novels, several short story collections and two collections of poetry, and wrote in both [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] and [[Hindi]].<ref name="Nayi">{{cite book |editor1-last=Rosenstein |editor1-first=Ludmila L. |title=New Poetry in Hindi: Nayi Kavita: An Anthology |date=2004 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=9781843311249 |pages=137–138}}</ref>{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}}

==Life and career==
Milan was born in [[Mumbai]] (then Bombay) on 19 July 1941,<ref name="Who's Who">{{cite book |last1=Dutt |first1=Kartik Chandra |title=Who's Who of Indian Writers, Volume 1: A-M |date=1999 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=9788126008735 |page=752 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="Pratlipi">{{cite web |title=ज्योत्स्ना मिलन {{!}} Jyotsna Milan |url=https://pratilipi.in/jyotsna-milan/ |website=Pratlipi: A Bilingual Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201192654/https://pratilipi.in/jyotsna-milan/ |archive-date=1 December 2016}}</ref> and was of [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] heritage.{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}} She began writing poetry in childhood, encouraged by her father who was also a writer.<ref name="Nayi"/> Her siblings include art historian [[Jyotindra Jain]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=de Souza |first1=Eunice |title=Pavankumar Jain, poet |url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/opinion/views/the-wisdom-of-coalitions/articleshow/21180043.cms |access-date=28 October 2023 |work=Bangalore Mirror |date=19 June 2013 |language=en}}</ref> She held a Master of Arts degree in [[Gujarati literature]] from the [[University of Bombay]] and a Master of Arts in English literature from Awadhesh Pratap Singh University.<ref name="Who's Who"/><ref name="Pratlipi"/>

For at least sixteen years Milan was the editor of ''Anasuya'', a journal published by the [[Self Employed Women's Association]] (SEWA).<ref name="Nayi"/> She translated a number of Gujarati language poems into Hindi, including works by [[Priyakant Maniyar]], [[Suresh Joshi]] and [[Niranjan Bhagat]], and has translated works by [[Ela Bhatt]].{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}} She was awarded the Muktibodh Fellowship by the [[Government of Madhya Pradesh]] in 1985 and a Senior Fellowship by the [[Ministry of Human Resource Development]] in 1993.<ref name="Who's Who"/>

Milan was part of a new generation of woman poets in India who emerged in the 1980s.{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=192}} Her poem "Woman 2" was included in ''The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry'' (1994), translated from Hindi,{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=20}} and in ''In Their Own Voice: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary Indian Women Poets'' (1993) together with her poem "Wind-tree".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Zide |editor1-first=Arlene R.K. |title=In Their Own Voice: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary Indian Women Poets |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=9780140156430 |pages=131–132}}</ref> In 1982 a short story collection was published in English as ''Khandahar and Other Stories''.{{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}}

While Milan did not consider herself a feminist poet, scholar Lucy Rosenstein observes that "woman's experience is unmistakably the prism of her creativity".<ref name="Nayi"/> The title of Milan's 1989 poetry collection ''Ghar Nahin'' translates to "Not a Home" in English, and Rosenstein notes that many of the poems in this collection relate to the theme of the confinement or imprisonment of women within the home.<ref name="Rosenstein">{{cite journal |last1=Rosenstein |first1=Lucy |title=Not a Home: Hindi Women Poets Narrating "Home" |journal=Journal of Commonwealth Literature |date=2005 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1177/0021989405054310 |s2cid=162723445 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0021989405054310?download=true |access-date=28 October 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Milan was married to the writer [[Ramesh Chandra Shah]], and their daughter Rajula Shah is a filmmaker.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mii Story |url=https://www.nomadsfilmschool.com/homepage |website=Rajula Shah |access-date=28 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref> She died in [[Bhopal]] on 4 May 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title=ज्योत्सना मिलन नहीं रहीं |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/article/c-58-2210883-NOR.html |access-date=28 October 2023 |work=दैनिक भास्कर |date=5 May 2014 |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sublime Himalayas inspired the poet in me, says writer Ramesh Chandra Shah |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/sublime-himalayas-inspired-the-poet-in-me-says-writer-ramesh-chandra-shah/article1-1303483.aspx |work=Hindustan Times |date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126171851/http://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/sublime-himalayas-inspired-the-poet-in-me-says-writer-ramesh-chandra-shah/article1-1303483.aspx |archive-date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

==Selected works==
* ''Apne Saath'' (novel, 1976){{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}}
* ''Cheekh Ke Aar Paar'' (short story collection, 1979){{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}}
* ''Kandahar Tatha Anya Kahaniyan'', also published in English as ''Khandahar and Other Stories'' (short story collection, 1982){{sfn|Dharwadker|Ramanujan|1994|p=236}}<ref name="Who's Who"/>
* ''Ghar Nahin'' (poetry collection, 1989)<ref name="Rosenstein"/>
* ''A Astu Ka'' (novel, 1990)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Milan |first1=Jyotsna |title=A Astu Ka |date=1990 |publisher=Vagdevi Prakashan |location=Beekaner |isbn=81-85127-28-X}}</ref>
* ''Andhere Mein Intajar'' (poetry collection, 1996)<ref name="Who's Who"/>
* ''Jyotsna Milan ki Lokpriya Kahaniyan'' (short story collection, 2019)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Dharwadker |editor1-first=Vinay |editor2-last=Ramanujan |editor2-first=A. K. |title=The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195628654}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160925155322/http://jyotsnamilan.in:80/ Archived version of official website], archived on 25 September 2016
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161023173757/http://jyotsnamilan.in/post.aspx?ID=P140722123527&title=A%20for%20Astu%20:%20an%20excerpt English translation excerpt] from Milan's novel ''A Astu Ka'' (''A for Astu''), translated by Rajula Shah
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnRGmRgQg00 Milan recites her work], video on [[YouTube]], filmed in 2004

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan, Jyotsna}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Gujarati writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Indian women short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Hindi-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language poets]]
[[Category:Indian magazine editors]]
[[Category:Indian women editors]]
[[Category:20th-century women poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women novelists]]

Jyotsna Milan - Revision history

Nskschool at 04:37, 29 April 2026