I am a writer, historian, and artist based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK working with storytelling, archiving, and multilingual creativity. I frequently run community workshops. Currently I am leading a storytelling project with South Asian women in Newcastle exploring language, belonging and identity. This multilingual project will culminate in a film, weaving together oral recollections and writings in the women’s own voices. My work is deeply influenced by my background in history and engagement with storytelling traditions, particularly through Bengali folk music.
My area of academic expertise is archival ethics, particularly in reconstructing histories of revolutionary women. I have published about history, memory and memorabilia of armed revolutionary women in Bengal. My research explores the politics of the archive, non-Anglophone modes of historiography and experiments with historical narration. With a background in English literature and a history of social activism and community work, my research interests extend to communist networks, radical women’s history, archival and historiographical studies.
Malya b 