Congratulations to Dr Gabriela Minden who has been awarded this year's Swapna Dev Memorial Book Prize. The prize is awarded for the best doctoral thesis in English literature at the University of Oxford. Gabriela's thesis title was 'After the Ballets Russes: Movement and Modernism in British Theatre, 1914-1935'.
The prize was established in 2018 according to the wishes of Swapna Dev's husband, and supported by his generous gift. The prize honours the interest that Swapna Dev had in English literature. After receiving her B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Delhi University, Swapna taught for many years on the B.A. Pass and Honours courses in English at the Jesus & Mary College, one of the leading colleges of Delhi University. After moving to the US, she became a visiting scholar in Folklore & Mythology at Harvard University from 1983 to 1985. At Harvard, Swapna worked on the metaphysical symbolism of Buddhist Stupas.
A lot of Swapna's writings, articles ranging from her childhood to diagnosis of her cancer, were discovered by her husband after her death. These were collected and published as a book titled, "Reminiscences of a Departed Soul," and is available from the publishing company, Blurb [US].
