R Raj Rao is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Boyfriend and Hostel Room 131. Riyad Wadia's short film BomGay was based on his poems. He is also the co-editor of Whistling in the Dark: Twenty-One Queer Interviews. A pioneer in the field of queer studies, Rao hassignificantly contributed to the subject in various capacities—as awriter, a critic, and an academic, and has travelled widely to promote the discipline. He is professor and head of the department of English at the University of Pune, India.