K. Madavane

Born in Pondicherry, K. Madavane went to school at the Lycée Français de Pondichéry. He received his PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he explored the theme of death in the Theatre of the Absurd. He taught in JNU for years before retiring in 2011. Madavane’s plays include The Mahabharata of Women, The Veritree or the Falsity of the Gods, A Monologue for a Woman on Stage, and 1947: The Man from Lahore, which was shortlisted for The Hindu Playwright Award in 2017. To Die in Benares was first published in French as Mourir à Bénarès in 2004 and is one of his most acclaimed works. Madavane currently lives in Delhi with his wife. Blake Smith is a historian of Indo-French relations. He currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at the European University
Institute. In addition to his scholarly publications, he also writes regularly for popular media in North America and India.