Chitra Gajadin

(Surinam, 1954). Gajadin moved to The Netherlands in 1972. Her poetry describes the changing of life’s balance for Hindus leaving Surinam. Despite being part of the Sarnami movement (promoting the Surinamese/Hindustani Language), her first three poetry collections were written in Dutch: Van erf tot skai (collected in From grounds to imitation leather , 1977). The collection Kab ke yaad/Van wanneer een herinnering ( From when a memory , 1984) anthologises the Sarnami poetry, along with translations in Dutch. In her stories, collected in Bari dopahar, ( The Hottest Hour of the Day , 1989), she remembers and describes the country she has left. Her latest novel is Schoorvoetige tijden (2000, Hesitant Times ).
(WIN 2004)