Renowned poet Eunice de Souza passes away

Mumbai: Noted English language poet, literary critic and novelist Eunice de Souza, who introduced countless neophytes to the joys of reading, passed away on Saturday at her Mumbai residence.

She was 77 years old. De Souza, who was an English professor and later the head of the department at St Xavier’s College, was very popular among students at the prestigious institution. She retired in 2000, ending a teaching career of 30 years.

Acclaimed for her verses, de Souza reached out to the masses through her columns in daily newspapers and scholarly articles in magazines.

Her poetry collections Fix, Women in Dutch Painting, Ways of Belonging and A Necklace of Skulls and novels Dangerlok and Dev & Simran: A Novel were well received not only in literary world but also by readers. Her latest volume, Learn from the Almond Leaf, was released in 2016.

Apart from penning these works, she edited several anthologies such as Nine Indian Women Poets, 101 Folktales From India, Women's Voices: Selections from Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Indian Writing in English, Purdah: An Anthology and Early Indian Poetry in English.

Born in Pune in 1940, de Souza had received her PhD from the University of Mumbai after completing her Masters from the Marquette University in Wisconsin, USA.