Kamayani Bisht

Kamayani Bisht (born 20 August 1974), also known as Kamayani Vashisht, is an Indian academician, poet, and actor based in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. She is noted for her poetry in English. Her anthology The Witch Must Die and Other Poems was in the final shortlist for the 'Sahitya Akademi Award for Writing in English (2022)', the Government of India's highest annual recognition for writing in the English language. She is also noted for her roles in Siddharth Chauhan's critically-acclaimed short films that explore queer issues.

Education Bisht did her undergraduate studies in English Literature at St. Bede's College, Shimla.

Career

Academic Bisht currently serves as Principal, Jawahar Lal Nehru College of Fine Arts, Shimla.

Earlier, she taught English at the Government College, Sanjauli, and the Government College, Theog.

Acting Bisht played leading roles in two short films directed by Shimla-based director Siddharth Chauhan. These were Boys Don't Wear Nailpolish (2013) and Pashi (2017). In Boy's Don't Wear Nailpolish, Bisht plays a mother who stands up for her son's non-conventional masculinity. In the critically-acclaimed coming-of-age short-film Pashi, Bisht plays the mother of the protagonist Ashish, a young boy who struggles with homo-erotic feelings.

Others

Bisht has frequently been a speaker, moderator, anchor, or chief guest at scholarly, literary, artistic, and educational events in and around Shimla.

Writing Bisht's 2016 book Dioramas of Girlhood: The Faerie Recast draws inspiration from her doctoral research, and interrogates the traditional fairy tale characters of the heroine and the witch through a postmodern lens.

Bisht's 2019 poetry anthology The Witch Must Die and Other Poems has been positively reviewed for its feminist poems that posit women as active agents.

Reviewing Bisht's 2022 poetry anthology Recipe for Ladyfinger Pickle, Anupama Jaidev Karir of Delhi University remarks that the collection possesses richness, variety, authenticity, and candour. The themes covered by the poems here include "confessions and interlocutions, intergenerational mindscapes as well as myriad aspects of the interiority of [Bisht's] personae". Karir adds that the poems, even though abundant in metaphors and intertextual conversations with some literary greats (like Neruda and Angelou), still reveal a poetic voice that is consistently un-encumbered by any particular influence or thesis, and one which is self-possessed and often playful.