Dr Anitha Devi Pillai is a writer, educator, translator, and researcher whose work bridges the literary and academic worlds. She teaches at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, and is President of the Singapore Association of Applied Linguistics.

She has published widely across genres — including fiction, poetry, and academic research — and translated the historical fiction novel Sembawang (2021) from Tamil to English. Her publications explore diaspora, identity, and belonging, and include From Kerala to Singapore: Voices from the Singapore Malayalee Community (2017). She was also the Guest Curator of a national exhibition on the Malayalee community at the Indian Heritage Centre, National Heritage Board.

A recipient of three university-level Teaching Excellence Awards and Singapore’s National Day Commendation Medal (2024), Anitha is deeply invested in education and literary development. She mentors young writers through the Ministry of Education’s Creative Arts Programme and has served as a judge for national literary competitions, including the Epigram Books Fiction Prize (2025) and the Singapore Book Awards (Literary and Children’s categories).

She has a long-standing interest in stories that explore identity, culture, and connection, and values writing that speaks to both the heart and the intellect.