Vaasanthi is a renowned author and journalist who writes in English and Tamil. She has been writing in Tamil for more than forty years and has published thirty novels, six short-story collections, and four travelogues. Her books in English include Cut-outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The World of Tamil Politics, Amma: Jayalalithaa’s Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen, The Lone Empress: A Portrait of Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi: A Definitive Biography, and Rajinikanth: A Life. Her works in Tamil have been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, English, Norwegian, Czech, and Dutch. Two of her novels have been made into films in Malayalam. She is the recipient of several awards in Tamil Nadu including the Best Short Story Writer award, the Best Novel award for Ammani, and the Gyana Bharathi award. She has received the UP Sahitya Sansthan award and the Punjab Sahitya Akademi award for the Hindi and English translations of her novels, respectively. She was the editor of the Tamil edition of India Today for nearly ten years in Chennai. Now a freelance writer and journalist, she lives in Delhi.

Vaasanthi is a renowned author and journalist who writes in English and Tamil. She has been writing in Tamil for more than forty years and has published thirty novels, six short-story collections, and four travelogues. Her books in English include Cut-outs, Caste and Cine Stars: The World of Tamil Politics, Amma: Jayalalithaa’s Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen, The Lone Empress: A Portrait of Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi: A Definitive Biography, and Rajinikanth: A Life. Her works in Tamil have been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, English, Norwegian, Czech, and Dutch. Two of her novels have been made into films in Malayalam. She is the recipient of several awards in Tamil Nadu including the Best Short Story Writer award, the Best Novel award for Ammani, and the Gyana Bharathi award. She has received the UP Sahitya Sansthan award and the Punjab Sahitya Akademi award for the Hindi and English translations of her novels, respectively. She was the editor of the Tamil edition of India Today for nearly ten years in Chennai. Now a freelance writer and journalist, she lives in Delhi.