About
Mathangi Subramanian is a neurodiverse South Asian American writer and educator. Her novel A People’s History of Heaven was a finalist for the lambda literary award and was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her novel Dear Mrs. Naidu won the South Asia Book Award, and her picture book A Butterfly Smile was inducted into the Nobel Museum by economics laureate Dr. Esther Duflo. A faculty member at the Regis Mile High MFA program and a guest artist at Denver School of the Arts, she holds a doctorate in education from Columbia Teachers College.
Featured Work
A People's History of Heaven
In the tight-knit community known as Heaven, a ramshackle slum hidden between luxury high-rises in Bangalore, India, five girls on the cusp of womanhood forge an unbreakable bond. Muslim, Christian, and Hindu; queer and straight; cis and trans; they are full of life, and they love and accept one another unconditionally, determined to transcend their surroundings.
When the local government threatens to demolish their tin shacks in order to build a shopping mall, the girls and their mothers refuse to be erased. Together they wage war on the bulldozers sent to bury their homes, and, ultimately, on the city that wishes families like theirs would remain hidden forever.
Elegant, poetic, and vibrant, A People’s History of Heaven dazzles in its depiction of these fierce women—and their determination not just to survive, but to triumph.
Other Works
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Dear Mrs. Naidu
2015
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Bullying: The Ultimate Teen Guide
2014
