Aadhi

Aadhi (any pronoun) is a PhD student in Malayalam Literature at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala. Their research is focused on developing queer readings of the literary canon considered central to the shaping of modernity in the Malayalam language. For the past two years, they have been engaged in legal action against their educational institution for casteist and queerphobic discrimination, also writing publicly about such issues in higher education. They frequently write and speak in public about the intersectionality of caste and queer identities in India, and the hijacking of the queer movement by India’s Hindu ethnonationalist regime. In 2022, they published their first collection of poetry, Pennappan [Sissy Dad]. Pennappan has since been widely acclaimed, winning the Kerala Sahitha Akademi Yuva Kavitha Award 2023, getting shortlisted for the 2025 Kendra Sahithya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, and winning other regional prizes for poetry (2024 A Ayyappan Kavitha Puraskaram, 2025 Jathikummi Kavitha Puraskaram). Their work is also included in University syllabi.

Follow Aadhi here.

Back to Top