Nandini C. Sen teaches English in Delhi University. An erstwhile Fellow at the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, she has received the Charles Wallace Fellowship for Academic Research in London, the Ambassador for Peace Prize for her pioneering work in educating slum dwellers and the Write India award for her creative writing. Sen writes on Diaspora Studies, African Studies and Comparative Literature. Some of her academic publications include The Black Woman Speaks: A Study of Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta (2019), Through the Diasporic Lens Volumes 1&2 (2017 & 2018), Mahasweta Devi: Critical Perspectives (2012). Sen is a keen observer of society and a social commentator. Her short stories have been featured in literary journals like The Elusive Genre and The Muse. She has also been featured in the Asian Collective of Short Stories and the Australia-India collaboration titled The Glass Walls.
A young boy applies lipstick on his lips as his mother looks on and grapples with her son’s sexuality. A wife negotiates with the ‘other woman’ and a love child after her diplomat husband’s violent death. A middle-aged woman ‘disappears’ while answering her inner calling. The Second Wife & Other Stories deals with love, war, caste and class divides. The stories in this collection are contemporary yet timeless. They ask probing questions on gender issues, explore queer relationships, and boldly re-tell the epics. The woman and her story remain the focal point as the author delves deep into women’s lives and raises provocative questions.
