India’s first female graphic novelist, Amruta Patil is known for her genre-defining novels which explore themes like ecology, mythology, intersectional feminism, and the unbroken thread of stories passed down from storyteller to storyteller through the ages.
Her debut graphic novel, Kari, explored themes of sexuality, friendship and death. Her two subsequent graphic novels Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean and Sauptik: Blood and Flowers make up the Parva duology which retells stories from the Mahabharata from the viewpoint of the narrators. Her latest work is a collaborative project with mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik – Aranyaka: Book of the Forest (2019).
In 2017, Patil received a Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India for “unusual work that breaks boundaries” in art and literature.
She speaks extensively on women in storytelling, mythology and art in today’s world, ecofeminism, diversity and relationships.
