Accession 94-18 - Ven Begamudre

Ven (Venkatesh) Sopher Begamudré was born in 1956 at Bangalore, India. Immigrating to Canada at the age of six, he lived in Ottawa, Kingston, Vancouver, and Regina.

Begamudré served with the Governor-General’s Foot Guards of the Canadian Armed Forces, Land Reserve from October 1973 until September 1974 in Ottawa and with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in 1973 in Vancouver. At Schiller College in Paris in 1975, he studied international administration and French. In 1977 he graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Administration. A Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing was obtained from Warren Wilson College in 1999.

Begamudré was a short story writer, novelist and editor. He published numerous short stories, articles, poems, prose, essays and reviews in various journals and anthologies. Several of his short stories have been broadcast on radio and television. He provided readings at conferences and workshops.

Begamudré was a writer-in-residence at the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme at the University of Calgary, Canada-Scotland Exchange Writer-in-Residence Program in Edinburgh, the University of Alberta, McMaster University, the Regina Public Library, and the Yukon Public Libraries. He also taught creative writing at the Sage Hill Writing Experience, the University of Regina Extension Department, the Saskatchewan School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University and Iowa State University.

Ven Begamudré passed away in Regina on July 5, 2026.