Vanamala Viswanatha is a bilingual scholar and award-winning translator who spent more than four decades teaching English literature at premier institutions in Bengaluru. She has made an exceptional contribution to bridging Kannada and English through her translations of modern and medieval Kannada literature. Her works include translations of contemporary authors such as U.R. Ananthamurthy, P. Lankesh, Tejaswi, Vaidehi, Sara Aboobacker, and Gulvadi Venkata Rao, as well as classical works such as the 13th-century Harishchandra Kavyam (The Life of Harishchandra, Murty Classical Library, 2017) and Kuvempu’s epic novel Malegalalli Madumagalu.

Beyond translation, she has held several influential positions, including Honorary Director of the Sahitya Akademi’s Centre for Translation and a member of the advisory board of the National Translation Mission.