Rita Chowdhury (born 1960) is an Indian poet and novelist who writes Assamese literature and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. She is the editor of the Assamese literary magazine Gariyoshi and a former director of the National Book Trust, India. She has been associate professor and lecturer at Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam in the Political Science Department and was active in the Assam Movement in the early 1980s.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born in 1960 to the writer Biraja Nanda Chowdhury at Nampong in Tirap District of Arunachal Pradesh. She did her schooling in Upper Haflong L.P. School and higher secondary in Margherita Public Higher Secondary School. She has spoken of the impact of the death of her older sister from cerebral malaria, including "I think my childhood ended the day she passed away," and how she "read obsessively, as if to try to forget the grief that surrounded me." She has described reading the works of Bankim Chandra, Lakshminath Bezbarua, Sarat Chandra, Rabindranath Tagore, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Shankar, and Sankho Maharaj during this time. Her family moved to Guwahati in 1980, during the Assam Movement; she became involved in the movement and was jailed several times. She was in jail when her first novel was published in 1981. She holds a postgraduate degree in political science and a postgraduate degree in Assamese, as well as a doctorate in political science and a law degree. She passed her B.A. in political science from Cotton College under Gauhati University in 1982. She is double MA in political science and Assamese from Gauhati University with LLB(1990) and Ph.D. She did Ph.D. from Gauhati University on Comparative Literature in 2005. Her thesis was on Society and Women psychology depicted in Nirupama Borgohain and Ashapurna Devi's Novels: a Comparative Study.

Literary career

Chowdhury began writing in 1981, during the Assam Movement. She wrote her first novel, Abirata Jatra, within three months, and it was published in 1981. She won an award from the Asom Sahitya Sabha for this book. She then married politician Chandra Mohan Patowary and stopped writing until after the birth of her daughter. Chowdhury then wrote a series of novels, including Tirthabhumi (The Shrine) in 1988, Maha Jibanar Adharshila (Foundation Stone of Great Life) in 1993, Nayana Tarali Sujata in 1996, Popiya Torar Xadhu (Tale of a shooting star) in 1998, Rag-malkosh in 1999, Jala-Padma (Water-Lotus) in 1999, Hridoy Nirupai (The Helpless Heart) in 2003, Deo Langkhui (The Divine Sword) in 2005, Makam (The Golden Horse) in 2010 and Mayabritta (The Circle of Worldly Illusion) in 2012. Her poetry collections include Xudoor Nakshatra, Banariya Batahar Xuhuri, Alop Pooharar Alop Andharar, and Boga Matir Tulaxi. She received Sahitya Akademi Award in 2008 for the novel Deo Langkhui which is based on the Tiwas of Assam. She spent four years writing her novel Makam (মাকাম) in Assamese, and it was published in 2010. After Makam was published, she publicly called for greater acceptance of Assamese people of Chinese origin, and met with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in November 2010 as part of her advocacy. In 2015, at a screening of the documentary Wars and Tears that she directed, she advocated for reunification of families separated during the Sino-Indian War in 1962. She also translated Makam into English, and it was published with the title Chinatown Days in 2018. In 2011, she formed Adharxila, an organisation to support young writers and Assamese literature. In 2015, she was appointed director of the National Book Trust in India. She resigned in January 2019. In 2022, she became the editor of the Assam literary magazine Gariyoshi.

Teaching career

Chowdhury started her teaching career as lecturer in political science in Diphu Government College, Karbi Anglong from the year 1989 to 1991. She then worked as lecturer from 1991 to 1996 and as senior lecturer from 1996 to 2001 at Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam in the Political Science Department. She became an associate professor in 2001. In 2016, she left her position as associate professor to become the director of the National Book Trust in India.

Selected works

Novels

Poems

Other works

Honours and awards

Research

Personal life

She is married to the politician Chandra Mohan Patowary. She has a son and a daughter.