Uma Parameswaran was born in Madras and grew up in Jabalpur, where her father was a Professor of Physics. She received her B.A. from Jabalpur University and her M.A. in English and her diploma in Journalism from Nagpur University. She was a Fulbright Scholar and received an M.A. in Creative Writing (Indiana University) and a Ph.D. in English (Michigan State University, 1972).
She has lived in Winnipeg, Canada since 1966. . She is married to a mathematician and they have one daughter.
Her areas of research are English Romantics, Post Colonial Literatures, Women's Literature, and South Asian Canadian Literature.
She is now a full time writer. She has published ten volumes of creative writing, including What Was Always Hers, that won the Jubilee Award for the best collection of short fiction published in 1999.
Teaching Areas
- Post-Colonial Literatures
- Women's Literature
- Creative Writing
Positions Held:
- Regional Representative, National Council of The Writers' Union of Canada
- Margaret Laurence Chair Advisory Panel
- Chair, Racial Minority Writers Committee, The Writers' Union of Canada
- Chair, Status of Women Writers Committee, The Writers' Union of Canada
- Chair, Women Focused Research, University of Winnipeg
- President, Manitoba Writer's Guild
- President, Canadian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies
- Board Member, Canadian Ethnic Studies Association
- Board Member, Immigrant Women's Association of Manitoba
Cultural
For the past twenty-five years Uma has been actively involved in bringing Indian culture and heritage to the children of Winnipeg. In 1978 she organized the first formal dance training of its kind in Winnipeg. She brought Mrs. Sarasi Raj from Montreal to teach what was then a handful of enthusiastic children. It soon ballooned into several levels of Bharata Natyam dance instruction for the next few years. Many of the girls who started in 1978 have gone on to their arangetrams under various other teachers.
She founded PALI - Performing Arts and Literatures of India for the purpose of introducing various aspects of Indian culture to not only the Indo-Canadian youth of Winnipeg but also to the community at large. She was the producer of her own weekly television show for over ten years. Uma has written two dance dramas, Meera and Sita's Promise, both of which have been performed in Winnipeg.
After a hiatus of several years, PALI sponsored a unique Carnatic music concert in September 1997 featuring three artistes - all role models of positive diasporic culture. An accomplished vocalist, Ravi Srinivasan, was accompanied on the violin by Jayshankar Balan and on the mridangam by Desikan Narayanan. The concert was performed to a standing-room only, appreciative crowd at the University of Winnipeg.
