Natasha Vashisht

Fields of study

• Global South Literature
• Postcolonial Drama
• Subaltern and Decolonial Studies

Areas of Interest

• Literature of the Global South
• Theatre and social activism
• World Literature
• Diasporic and transnational literature

Courses Taught

ENG100H Effective Writing
ENG102H How to Research Literature
ENG302H Magical Realism
ENG330H Medieval Drama
ENG317H Drama of the Global South
ENG343H World Drama
ENG355H Black British Literature
ENG356H Caribbean Literature
ENG371H Special Topic in World Literature: Theatres of Resistance
ENG426H Seminar: Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora, Indigeneity: Revolutionary Humour in Postcolonial Drama
ENG460H Seminar: Pre1700 Literature: Humour and Transgression in European Dramatic Comedy
DRE420H Seminar: African and Caribbean Theatre

Biography

Natasha’s research and teaching focus on literary narratives from Global South and Postcolonial geographies from decolonial, transnational and subaltern perspectives. Her doctoral research explores humour as a form of resistance and cultural intervention in the theatre of Dario Fo. Natasha was a Visiting Professor to the University of Toronto’s Theatre Erindale and to the Centre for South Asian Civilizations (2018-2019). During her tenure, she taught a course, Theatres of Resistance – under the ENG371 Special Topics in World Literature.

Before joining English & Drama at UTM, Natasha was an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at St. Stephen’s college, University of Delhi for over a decade. Along with teaching courses in global anglophone literatures, Early Modern and Modern drama, she successfully organized and conducted a certificate course “An Introduction to the Arts and Cultures of India” in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and SAHAPEDIA (2012-2016). She was also the faculty advisor to the Shakespeare Society and the English Literary Society. 

Her contributions have appeared in prominent journals like the European Journal of Humour Research and African Identities and in books such as the Routledge Encyclopedia of Indian Writing in English and Bloomsbury Women's Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance – Volume 2 "Creators." She has co-edited the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing (Springer 2025). She is also a trained Hindustani Classical vocalist. 

Publications 

Books

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing. Eds., M Jaidka & T Dhar, N. Vashisht. Springer Nature Pte Ltd. 2025.

Articles & Book Chapters

“Staging Truth to Power”: Sistren Theatre Collective’s Call to Political Action in QPH in Women's Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance – Volume 2 "Creators," Eds. Lane, Mercer & Jain, Bloomsbury Publishers. In progress. 

“Vijayalakshmi Chauhan,” “Sonora Jha,” contributing editor Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing: Co-edited with Jaidka & Dhar, Springer Nature Pte Ltd. 2025.

“Puns and pain in Palestine: black comedy as cultural resistance in Ahmed Masoud’s The Shroud Maker.”  The European Journal of Humour Research, 12(3), 2024, pp. 53–66. https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR.2024.12.3.929

“Mahesh Dattani,” “Bharati Sarabhai” & “Final Solutions and Other Plays” by Mahesh Dattani.” Jaidka, M., & Dhar, T.N. (Eds.). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Indian Writing in English, 2023. 

https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.4324/9781003279273

“Staging resistance matters! Deconstructing structures of power and oppression in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Micere Githae Mugo's The Trial of Dedan Kimathi and Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist.” In African Identities Routledge: Taylor & Francis, 2021. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14725843.2021.1997704

“Empowering the Oppressed: A Gandhian Approach to Mahasweta Devi’s Aajir.” in Reflections on Mahatma Gandhi:  The Global Perspectives, Eds., T Beitzel & C Langare. India: Rawat Publishers, 2021.

“Dissent through the Theatre of Farce: Dario Fo and the Commedia Dell’ Arte,” Language, Literature and Beyond: The Postmodern Genre. Eds., P Ozha & R Gautam, India: Authorspress, 2019

“A demented but partly secure Society”: Reconsidering Human Depravity in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies,” Worlds Gone Awry: Essays on Dystopian Fiction. Ed., John Jan, C. Triplett & A. Antony. U.S.A: McFarland Company, inc., Publishers, 2018.

“Folly Foolery and the Fool: The Strange Case of Launcelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice” in Merchant of Venice, Ed. Lovelina Singh. India: Prentice Hall Publications, 2016.

Education? It’s asking questions all the time” - Proletarian Revolution in Arnold Wesker’s Roots.”  Dialog, Panjab University journal of Research (English), Number 13, 2008

Politics and Farce in Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist,” in Dialog  Panjab University journal of Research (English), Number 8, 2005

“Of Wiglerus, Feng Et. Al.: Some Variations on the Hamlet Story.” Hamlet Studies: An international journal of research on the Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.”  Vol. 25 (co -authorship with M Jaidka), 2003. 

“Bulbul Sharma.” South-Asian Novelists in English: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook.”  U.S.A: Greenwood press, 2002

Book Review, Banana Flower-Dreams by Bulbul Sharma. The Tribune, 22 July 2002.