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{{Short description|American writer (born 1971)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Anne Mohanraj
| image = Mary_Anne_Mohanraj%2C_July_2012.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|07|26}}
| birth_place = [[Colombo]], [[Dominion of Ceylon|Ceylon]]
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| education = [[University of Chicago]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Mills College]] ([[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]]), [[University of Utah]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* [[Writer]]
* editor
* academic
}}
}}
'''Mary Anne Amirthi Mohanraj''' (born July 26, 1971) is an American writer, editor, and academic of [[Sri Lanka]]n birth.

== Background ==
Mohanraj was born in [[Colombo]], Sri Lanka, but moved to the United States at the age of two and grew up in [[New Britain, Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Issues/10Mohanraj.html |title=Mary Anne Mohanraj: Breaking Down Barriers |work=Locus Magazine |date=October 2006 |accessdate=2013-05-06}}</ref>

Her parents, who had originally intended to return to Sri Lanka after a few years and were still considering the possibility for the future, planned in 1983 to send 12-year-old Mary Anne to live with her grandparents for a summer "to reconnect" with her homeland. Just before she was to go, her father received a telegram. "Don't send her. There's trouble coming." He cancelled the trip. As she later wrote,<blockquote>
It's called [[Black July]] in Sri Lanka. Riots erupted in Colombo, the capital city, killing thousands of Tamils, the ethnic minority group, the group to which I belong. Brutal chaos ensued – friends of mine who were there tell horrifying stories. They saw tires put around men's necks, saw them lit on fire. They saw women and children dragged from their homes, pulled from cars to be raped and killed in the street.

I saw none of this, but the stories haunt my fiction. Whether I'm writing mainstream lit or fantasy or science fiction, I keep coming back to the [[Sri Lankan civil war|war in Sri Lanka]]. I keep thinking about the life I would have had, if my parents had made different choices. If we had stayed there, and been killed in the riots. If I had gotten on that plane. If we had fled, as so many of my aunts and uncles did, and ended up as refugees in Canada or elsewhere.<ref>[http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/11/21/the-big-idea-mary-anne-mohanraj/ "The Big Idea: Mary Anne Mohanraj" November 21, 2013 ''Whatever: The Big Idea'' John Scalzi]</ref></blockquote>

Instead, Mohanraj attended [[Miss Porter's School]] and the [[University of Chicago]] and graduated with a degree in [[English Literature]] in 1993. She holds an [[Master of Fine Arts|MFA]] from [[Mills College]] (1998) and a [[PhD]] in [[English Literature]] from the [[University of Utah]] (2005). She also attended the [[Clarion Workshop|Clarion West Writing Workshop]] in 1997.

== Academic career ==
Mohanraj has taught at [[Salt Lake Community College]], the [[University of Utah]], and [[Vermont College]]. From September 2005 to June 2007, she was a visiting professor in the MFA Program at [[Roosevelt University]]. From 2007 to 2008, she was a visiting professor at [[Northwestern University]], in the Center for the Writing Arts. She taught at the [[Clarion Workshop]] in July 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clarion.ucsd.edu/faculty.html |title=2008 Clarion Instructors |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080117003534/http://clarion.ucsd.edu/faculty.html |archivedate = 2008-01-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2008/07/aisfp-56/|title=AISFP 56 - Mary Anne Mohanraj|work=Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing}}</ref> Since 2008, she has worked as in the English Department at the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]] (UIC), first as Clinical Assistant Professor, and currently as Clinical Associate Professor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://2018.penguicon.org/2018/02/13/mary-anne-mohanraj-2018-penguicon-guest-of-honor/|title = Mary Anne Mohanraj, 2018 Penguicon Guest of Honor|date = 13 February 2018}}</ref> She was Associate Coordinator of [[Asian Studies|Asian]] and [[Asian American Studies]] at UIC from 2009 to 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://asam.uic.edu/asam/faculty-and-staff/mary-anne-mohanraj |title=UIC Faculty and Staff - Mary Anne Mohanraj |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150426143109/http://asam.uic.edu/asam/faculty-and-staff/mary-anne-mohanraj |archivedate = 2015-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2014/10/top-10-quotes-kriti-festival-2014-celebration-south-asian-literature-arts/|title=Top 10 Quotes From the Kriti Festival 2014 – A Celebration of South Asian Literature and Arts|date=6 October 2014|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=23 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323144315/https://browngirlmagazine.com/2014/10/top-10-quotes-kriti-festival-2014-celebration-south-asian-literature-arts/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Writing ==
Her novel-in-stories, ''Bodies in Motion'', received an honorable mention from the 2007 [[Asian American Literary Awards]] and was named a ''[[USA Today]]'' notable book.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-05-25-summerbooks-calendar_x.htm |title=Upcoming titles |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=May 25, 2005 }}</ref> In 2006, Mohanraj received an [[Illinois Arts Council]] Fellowship in Prose. She was the co-founder and editor-in-chief for ''[[Clean Sheets]]'', an online magazine of [[erotica]], from 1998 to 2000. In 2000 she helped found ''[[Strange Horizons]]'', where she was the editor-in-chief through 2003.<ref name="sh">{{Cite web|url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030922/editorial.shtml |title=Changing of the Guard |accessdate=9 September 2015 |last=Mohanraj |first=Mary Anne |date=22 September 2003 |work=Strange Horizons |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908085106/http://www.strangehorizons.com/2003/20030922/editorial.shtml |archivedate=8 September 2015 }}</ref> In 2004 she founded the [[Speculative Literature Foundation]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.speculativeliterature.org/About/|title=The Speculative Literature Foundation|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref> which she still directs, and is a founding member and Executive Director of [[Desilit]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.desilit.org/staff.php|title=DesiLit: Staff|accessdate=18 January 2010|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221014748/http://www.desilit.org/staff.php|archivedate=21 February 2010}}</ref> an organization designed to support [[South Asian]] and [[diaspora]] writers. Mohanraj founded and is Executive Director of the biennial Kriti Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.desilit.org/kriti.php#staff|title=Kriti (creation)|accessdate=18 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614180055/http://www.desilit.org/kriti.php#staff|archive-date=14 June 2009|url-status=usurped}}</ref> a celebration of South Asian and diaspora literature and arts, founded in 2005. As of 2013, she is Editor-in-Chief of ''Jaggery'', "A DesiLit Arts and Literature Journal".<ref name="jaggery">{{Cite web|url=http://jaggerylit.com/about/masthead/|title=Masthead|accessdate=9 September 2015|work=Jaggery}}</ref> Mohanraj was a host for season 12 of the [[Writing Excuses]] podcast.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mary Anne Mohanraj|url=http://www.writingexcuses.com/about-2/mary-anne-mohanraj/|website=Writing Excuses|date=2 January 2017|accessdate=19 February 2018|archive-date=20 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033425/http://www.writingexcuses.com/about-2/mary-anne-mohanraj/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Mohanraj's writing frequently explores issues of [[cultural identity]]. She has noted in interviews that she feels the complexity of such issues in her own life: "When people ask me what my identity is, I could say I'm Sri Lankan-American ... I could say I was raised Catholic but now I'm agnostic. I could say I've been called a queer, because although I've been with a man the past 17 years, I'm bisexual."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2008/11/19/Campus/Author.Tackles.Sexuality.Identity-3551523.shtml |title=Author tackles sexuality, identity |accessdate=4 January 2009 |last=Allen |first=Jessica |date=19 November 2008 |work=The Daily Northwestern |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205202700/http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2008/11/19/Campus/Author.Tackles.Sexuality.Identity-3551523.shtml |archivedate=5 December 2008 }}</ref> She is also something of a sexuality activist; she founded and moderates the [[Internet Erotica Writers' Workshop]], and was a former moderator for [[soc.sexuality.general]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/2005-08-11/entertainment/17384059_1_sri-lankan-tamil-civil-war-immigrant/2|title=ASIAN POP Sexing Sri Lanka / How a Tamil immigrant girl grew up to become an erotica queen and new voice in South Asian literature (page 2 of 5)|access-date=18 January 2010|last=Roy|first=Sandip|date=11 August 2005|work=SF Gate|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726043334/http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-08-11/entertainment/17384059_1_sri-lankan-tamil-civil-war-immigrant/2|archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>

Mohanraj has had stories published in the [[List of Wild Cards books and short stories|''Wild Cards'']] science fiction [[shared universe]] edited by [[George R. R. Martin]].,<ref>[http://us.macmillan.com/series/wildcards ''Wild Cards'' series website] at [[Macmillan Publishers]], parent company of [[Tor Books]]</ref> and has announced that she will have further stories in forthcoming ''Wild Cards'' anthologies ''Fort Freak'', ''Lowball'', ''Low Chicago'', ''Joker Moon'', and ''Three Kings''.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10159264069669616 Mohanraj's Facebook page; March 15, 2019]</ref>

== Personal life ==

On February 12, 2015, she announced in her blog that she had been diagnosed with [[breast cancer]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mohanraj|first1=Mary Anne|title=Diagnosis The first ...|url=http://maryannemohanraj.com/2015/02/12/diagnosisthe-first/|website=An Ongoing, Erratic Diary|date=12 February 2015|accessdate=9 April 2016|archive-date=12 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512195022/http://maryannemohanraj.com/2015/02/12/diagnosisthe-first/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She has been documenting the treatment (including [[chemotherapy]] and a [[lumpectomy]]) in a "Cancer Log" on her website.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mohanraj|first1=Mary Anne|title=Category Archives: Cancer Log|url=http://maryannemohanraj.com/category/cancer-log/|website=An Ongoing, Erratic Diary|accessdate=9 April 2016}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> On February 24, 2015, she married Kevin Whyte, with whom she had had a [[domestic partnership]] for 23 years.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mohanraj|first1=Mary Anne|title=Kevin and I got married ...|url=http://maryannemohanraj.com/2015/02/25/kevin-and-i-got-married/|website=An Ongoing, Erratic Diary|date=25 February 2015|accessdate=9 April 2016|archive-date=12 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170512195018/http://maryannemohanraj.com/2015/02/25/kevin-and-i-got-married/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2017, Mohanraj ran for the Oak Park library board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/3-10-2017/Election-2017:-Oak-Park-Library-Board/|publisher=OakPark.com|title=Election 2017: Oak Park Library Board|date=10 March 2017|accessdate=31 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mary Anne Mohanraj: From prolific author to local politician|url=https://medium.com/crowdpac/mary-anne-mohanraj-from-prolific-author-to-local-politician-c0217c1ba0b2|publisher=Crowdpac|date=29 March 2017|accessdate=31 March 2017}}</ref> [[Democracy for America]] endorsed her candidacy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracyforamerica.com/our_candidates|title=Democracy for America : Our Candidates|publisher=DemocracyForAmerica.com|accessdate=31 March 2017}}</ref> She was elected on April 4, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://file770.com/?p=34204 |title=Mohanraj Wins Seat As Library Trustee |website=[[File 770]] |first=Mike |last=Glyer |date=April 5, 2017 |accessdate=April 9, 2017}}</ref> In April 2021, she was elected to the D200 [[school board]],<ref>[https://www.oprfhs.org/about "About Us" Oak Park and River Forest High School website]</ref> which governs [[Oak Park and River Forest High School]].<ref>[https://www.oakpark.com/2021/04/06/d97-and-d200-school-boards-get-new-members/ Romain, Michael. "D97 and D200 school boards get new members: Duffy, Johnson and Dribin win seats on D97 board while Arkin, Mohanraj, Henry and Cofsky win seats on D200 board" ''Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' April 6, 2021]</ref>

==Awards and honors==
* 2018 Imadjinn Award for Best Non-Fiction Book (''Invisible 3: Essays and Poems on Representation in SF/F'', with co-editor [[Jim C. Hines]]), winner<ref>{{cite web |title=2018 Imadjinn Awards Winners |url=https://locusmag.com/2018/10/2018-imadjinn-awards-winners/ |website=Locus Online |date=10 October 2018 |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref>
* 2019 [[Locus Award|Locus Special Award]] for Community Outreach & Development, winner<ref>{{cite web |title=Locus Awards Weekend Report |url=https://locusmag.com/2019/08/locus-awards-weekend-report/ |website=Locus Online |date=2 August 2019 |access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Fiction===
* ''Kathryn in the City: A Choose-Your-Own-Erotic-Adventure'' ([[Melcher Media]], 2003) ({{ISBN|1-59240-030-2}})
* ''The Classics Professor: A Choose-Your-Own-Erotic-Adventure'' ([[Melcher Media]], 2003) ({{ISBN|1-59240-031-0}})
* ''Bodies in Motion: Stories'' ([[HarperCollins]], 2005) ({{ISBN|0-06-078118-1}})
* ''The Stars Change'' ([[Circlet Press]], 2013) ({{ISBN|978-1-61390-084-0}})
* ''Perennial: A Garden Romance'' ([[Lethe Press]], 2018) ({{ISBN|978-1-59021-640-8}})

===Mixed-genre collections===
* ''Torn Shapes of Desire'' (IAM [Intangible Assets Manufacturing], 1997) ({{ISBN|1-885876-03-3}})
* ''Silence and the Word'' ([[Lethe Press]], 2004) ({{ISBN|1-59021-014-X}})
* ''Without a Map'' [with [[Nnedi Okorafor]]] ([[Aqueduct Press]], 2010) ({{ISBN|978-1-93350-041-6}})

===Nonfiction===
* ''A Taste of Serendib: A Sri Lankan Cookbook'' ([[Lethe Press]], 2003) ({{ISBN|1-59021-100-6}})
* ''A Feast of Serendib: Recipes from Sri Lanka'' (2020) ({{ISBN|978-1-64543-275-3}})<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781645432753|title=Lifestyle Book Review: A Feast of Serendib: Recipes From Sri Lanka by Mary Anne Mohanraj|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]|accessdate=2020-01-15}}</ref>
* ''Vegan Serendib: Recipes from Sri Lanka'' (Serendib Press, 2022) {{ISBN|978-1-73304093-8}} {{WorldCat|oclc=1365622195}}
* ''Tornado: A Breast Cancer Log'' ([[Riverdale Avenue Books]], 2023) {{ISBN|978-1-62601647-7}}

===Children's literature===
* ''The Poet's Journey'' ([[Serendib Press]], 2008) ({{ISBN|978-0-615-18889-8}}) [as "Amirthi Mohanraj"]

===Edited books===
* ''Aqua Erotica'' ([[Three Rivers Press]], 2000) ({{ISBN|0-609-80656-4}})
* ''Wet: More Aqua Erotica'' ([[Three Rivers Press]], 2002) ({{ISBN|0-609-80897-4}})
* ''The Best of Strange Horizons: Year One'' ([[Lethe Press]], 2003) ({{ISBN|1-59021-036-0}})
* ''The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 9: Intersections and Alliances'' ([[Aqueduct Press]], 2015) ({{ISBN|978-1-61976-087-5}})
* ''Invisible 3: Essays and Poems on Representation in SF/F'' [with [[Jim C. Hines]]] (2017) ({{ISBN|978-1-37070-456-9}})
* ''Survivor'' [with [[JJ Pionke]]] ([[Lethe Press]], 2018) ({{ISBN|978-1-59021-174-8}})

===Edited online magazines/journals===
* ''Clean Sheets'' (founder and editor-in-chief, 1998–2000)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cleansheets.com/masthead/bios.html#maryanne |title=Staff Bios |accessdate=9 September 2015 |date=4 August 2002 |work=Clean Sheets |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020804081022/http://www.cleansheets.com/masthead/bios.html#maryanne |archivedate=August 4, 2002 }}</ref>
* ''[[Strange Horizons]]'' (founder and editor-in-chief, 2000–2003)<ref name="sh" />
* ''Jaggery'' (founder; editor-in-chief, 2013–17)<ref name="jaggery" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website}} Contains links to her [https://web.archive.org/web/20080621041908/http://www.mamohanraj.com/biog.html biography], bibliography, journal, and other areas of interest.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070825203129/http://www.indiacurrents.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=b76891dd7561a9c67fff9f49c77f41c3 Uniting Desi Writers and Readers] Interview in ''India Currents'' Magazine by Ranjit Souri
* [https://saichicago.org/dialogues/sai-dialogue-with-mary-anne-mohanraj Mary Anne Mohanraj] Interview on ''South Asia Institute'' website. Retrieved 07 March 2026
*{{ISFDB name|id=80741|name=Mary Anne Mohanraj }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanraj, Mary Anne}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century Sri Lankan LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century Sri Lankan LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American erotica writers]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Bisexual women writers]]
[[Category:Bisexual novelists]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American science fiction editors]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:University of Utah alumni]]
[[Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:American novelists of Asian descent]]
[[Category:American writers of Sri Lankan descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Chicago]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:Miss Porter's School alumni]]
[[Category:American women bloggers]]
[[Category:American women erotica writers]]
[[Category:Novelists from Illinois]]
[[Category:Bisexual academics]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Connecticut]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ people of Asian descent]]
[[Category:School board members in Illinois]]
[[Category:Polyamorous people]]
[[Category:American bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan bisexual people]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ women writers]]

Mary Anne Mohanraj - Revision history

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