Sonagachi in Kolkata (Calcutta) is the largest red-light district in Asia, with an estimated 10,000 or more sex workers in residence. It’s the setting for Rijula Das’ debut novel Small Deaths, a ‘modern noir’ thriller capturing all shades of a colourful urban area.
Originally published in India with Picador, it was long-listed for the JCB Prize for Literature and won the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award in 2021
Small Deaths was informed by Dass’s PhD research into sexual violence and women’s right to public space in India at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where she taught writing for two years.
Also a literary translator, Rijula Das is the programmer of this year’s Verb festival in Wellington 3-6 November.
Rijula Das Photo: Supplied
