Lakshmi Holmström MBE (1 June 1935 – 6 May 2016 ) was an Indian-British writer, literary critic, and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works were her translations of short stories and novels by contemporary writers in Tamil, such as Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami, C. S. Lakshmi, Bama, and Imayam.

Education

She obtained her undergraduate degree in English literature from the University of Madras and her postgraduate degree from University of Oxford. Her postgraduate work was on the work of R. K. Narayan.

Career

She settled in the United Kingdom and was the founder-trustee of SALIDAA (South Asian Diaspora Literature and Arts Archive) – an organisation archiving the work of British writers and artists of South Asian origin. From 2003 to 2006 she was a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund at University of East Anglia in Norwich, Norfolk, England. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2011 for services to literature.

Death

She died of cancer on 6 May 2016 in Norwich, aged 80.

Awards