V.V. Ganeshananthan

V.V. Ganeshananthan (she/her) is an associate professor of English in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, where she holds the McKnight Presidential Fellow title. She has served as visiting faculty at the Helen Zell Writers’ Program (University of Michigan) and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her primary affiliations include board memberships with the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies, Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, and former roles with the South Asian Journalists Association and Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

• B.A. in English, Harvard College (2002)
• M.F.A. in Fiction, Iowa Writers’ Workshop (2005)
• M.A. in Arts & Culture Journalism, Columbia University (2007)

Her research interests focus on creative writing (fiction/nonfiction), journalism, and political/historical fiction exploring themes of conflict, identity, and ethical struggles. She examines Tamil minority experiences in Sri Lanka’s civil war through narrative forms and critiques media representations of marginalized communities.

Her publications include the acclaimed novels Brotherless Night (2024) and Love Marriage (2023), which have received major literary awards. These works showcase her ability to intertwine personal narratives with socio-political contexts, offering nuanced perspectives on war, diaspora, and cultural identity.

• 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction
• 2024 Carol Shields Prize
• 2023 Asian Prize
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
• Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (Harvard)

Ganeshananthan’s advising and grants history includes McKnight Foundation support and residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell. She collaborates on the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast, exploring intersections between literature and current events, and actively engages in community initiatives through her board roles.