Cándani

• Name — Cándani • Pen Name — Saya Yasmine Amores • Birth Name — Asha Radjkoemar • Born — 8 March 1965 • Birthplace — District Suriname, Suriname • Died — 4 August 2021 • Place of death — Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands • Occupation — * poet • writer • painter • Movement — Surinamese literature

Asha Radjkoemar was born in the district of Suriname, located in the country of Suriname, on 8 March 1965. In 1982, she took up the pen name "Cándani", meaning "Moonlight" in the Sarnami language.

Cándani's first book was published in 1990. It was a poetry collection in Sarnami with Dutch translations entitled Ghunghru tut gail/De rinkelband is gebroken [The bangle is broken]. Cándani's next collections were in Dutch, including Vanwaar je dacht te vertrekken sta je geplant (1993) and Een zoetwaterlied (2000). She returned to Sarnami/Dutch bilingual poetry with Ghar ghar ke khel/Het spel van huisje huisje (2002). These collections are centered around memories of Indo-Surinamese rural life. She also wrote two novels, Oude onbekenden (2001) and Huis van as (2002), in which the search for the Indo-Surinamese identity is placed within the historical context of Hindustani migration to Suriname and re-migration to the Netherlands. Geef mij het land dat in jou woont (2004) is a collection of poems about the history of Suriname.

Cándani married Dennis van den Bosch in 1999, publishing a commemorative collection Zal ik terugkeren als je bruid [I will come as your bride]. She had one daughter from a prior relationship in Suriname. She was hospitalised in 2020 at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis. She died of cancer on 4 August 2021 in Amsterdam.