V Vinay Kumar
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Cinema Studies
- Food Writing
- Indian Writing and Caste
Biography
Vinay’s interest and work lie in literature and popular media. He’s keen on understanding the representation of marginalised identities in popular art and media. He is interested in using popular writing platforms to take academic conversations into the everyday.
He is a Fellow with the first Queer Frames Screenwriting Lab, an initiative by The Queer Muslim Project and Netflix to support LGBTQIA+ storytellers in India.
He received his Master’s degree in English from The University of Hyderabad in 2019. He is currently working on his first book manuscript for Westland Publications.
Vinay has previously worked as a freelance journalist, translator, and photographer and writes regularly for popular Indian publications.
He has been on the organising team of the Azim Premji University Short Story Contest for Young Writers, Humanities Conference (Archives and Archiving: Politics, Ethics, and Technology) and Bengaluru Jatre.
Courses
Reading the City: Language, Media, Culture, and Bangalore
Develops new perspectives on the city they have been studying and living in
Publications
Journal Articles
- Vinay Kumar, V. (2022). Telugu cinema and the image: Exploring the potency of an icon. Economic and Political Weekly, 57(9). https://www.epw.in/engage/article/telugu-cinema-and-image-exploring-potency-icon?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D6edeb994b18425b7ec1c5e6aa050f63e
- Vinay Kumar, V. (2020, September 22). Blood fry & other Dalit recipes from my childhood. The Goya Journal. https://www.goya.in/blog/blood-fry-other-recipes-from-my-dalit-childhood
Online Articles
- Vinay Kumar, V. (2023, December 17). Hungry for Education. The Swaddle. https://www.theswaddle.com/hungry-for-education
- Vinay Kumar, V. (2023, April 03). Watching The Great Indian Kitchen with 300 college students. The Locavore. https://thelocavore.in/2023/04/03/watching-the-great-indian-kitchen-with-300-college-students/
- Vinay Kumar, V. (2023). Tangible memorabilia and manufactured nostalgia. Enthucutlet Magazine. https://enthucutlet.com/enthuoriginals/growing-up-in-the-90s/nostalgia-marketing-90s/
- Vinay Kumar V, (2020, May 05). Remembering ‘Nityotsava Kavi’ Nissar Ahmed, one of Kannada literature’s foremost poets. The News Minute. https://www.thenewsminute.com/karnataka/remembering-nityotsava-kavi-nissar-ahmed-one-kannada-literature-s-foremost-poets-123965
- Kamat, A., & Vinay Kumar, V. (2017). In India, accessible phones lead to inaccessible opportunities. The Wire. https://thewire.in/caste/india-accessible-phones-still-lead-inaccessible-opportunities
Select Lectures and Workshops
- Online guest lecture on Writing Food, at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, 2024, February 13.
- Panellist at a seminar on Food, Caste, and Gender at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, 2023, February 18. The Seminar was a part of Brunel University, London’s research study to further gender equality in higher education in India.
Select Conference Papers
- Vinay Kumar, V. & Saikia, S. (2022, 7 – 8 June). Dalit Citizenship through Indian Films. Theorising Anticasteism Conference. Presidency University Kolkata.
- Saikia, S. & Vinay Kumar, V. (2022, 27 – 29 April). Caste and Corporeal Violence on Dalit and Adivasi Body in Indian Cinema. Fifth Annual Conference on South Asia, The Ireland India Institute at Dublin City University.