Shakuntala Bharvani studied at Loreto House, Calcutta. She majored in English Literature, standing first at the MA examination of Calcutta universityin 1967. She received her PhD degree from the Bombay University. In 1973.

Her field of specialization is the twentieth century novel, on which she has continued to write and research. She is at present Reader in English at Elphinston College, Mumbai.

Shakunatala Bharvani's articles, short stories, and theatre and book reviews have appeared in academic journals and newspapers. She visited the UK in 1985 on a British Council Fellowship, and in 1990 on a British Council Visitorship.

She ahs edited two anthologies of poems for college students - The Best Words and The Best Order - in collaboration with Nissim Ezekiel. Lost Directions is her first novel.