Her father Manish Ghatak was a poet and a novelist, and her mother Dharitri Devi was also a writer and a social worker. Her first schooling was in Dhaka, but after the partition of India she moved to West Bengal in India. She joined Vishvabharati University in Santiniketan and completed a B.A. (Hons) in English, and then finished an M.A. in English at Calcutta University.

Translated work:
   

• Breast Stories. Translated by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. Seagull, Calcutta, 1997 . (This book contains the translation of "choli ke piche" (behind the bodies) along with two more extraordinary short stories)
• Five Plays. Translated by Shamik Bandyopadhyay. Seagull, 1986, 1997 (It includes "Mother of 1084", "aajir", "baayen", "Urbashi and Johni" and "Water")
• In other worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics. Translated by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. Methuyen and Company, 1987. New York, London (This one has "Draupadi" and "Stanodayani")
• Etoyaa Munda Won the Battle. Translated By Meenakshi Chatterjee. N.B.T., 1989
• Ek-kori's Dream. Translated by By Lila Majumdar. N.B.T., 1976
• Of Women, Outcasts, Peasants, and Rebels. Translated By Kalpana Bardhan University of California, 1990. (This includes six stories: "Paddy seeds", "dhouli", "The funeral weller", "Strange children", "Witch hunt", "Miribala")
• Basai Tudu. Translated By Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak and Shamik Bandyopadhyay. Thima, Calcutta, 1993. (It has "Operation Basai Tudu" & "Draupadi")
• Imaginary Maps. Translated By Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. Thima, Calcutta, 1993 ("The hunt", "Doulat the bountiful", Terodactyle, Puron Sahay and Pirtha")
• Women Writing in India, vol 2. Edited by Susie Tharu and K. Lalita, Oxford University Press, second edition, 1995 (Contains Mahasweta's story "Shishu" (Children) along with a 2 page introduction on Mahasweta- it is available in most Univ. Libraries - a must read book)
• Mother of 1084. Translated by Shamik Bandyopadhyay. Seagull, Calcutta, 1997
• Rudali: From Fiction to Performance. Translated By Anjum Katiyal, Seagull, Calcutta, 1997
• Dust on the Road: The activist writings of Mahaseta Devi. Translated By Maitrayee Ghatak. Seagull, Calcutta. (A collection of her activist prose including most of her articles in English, several Bengali pieces in translation, and editorials from her journal Bortika).

into Kannada

• Dopdi, Sthanadhaayini (Breast feeder), Makar Shavar, Salt have been translated by Sreemathi H.S., and published by Belli chukki Prakashana,Bangalore 560 020(1996).
• Hajaar chauraasir maa( Mother of 1084), Rudaali are translated by Sreemathi H.S. and published in separate volumes by Aankitha Prakashana,Bangalore 560 004 (1998). Karnataka Sahitya Akademi named the first as the best translation of a creative work for 1998.
• Kulaputra (The Son), Hunt, Doulathi & Pterodectele,Puran Sahai and Pirtha were translated by Sreemathi H.S. and are published in a single volume by CVG publications,Bangalore 560 003 (2000).

Other languages:

• The story "Basai Tudu" has been translated in Japanese, Italian, and French.
• In Hindi, most of her works can be found from "Radhakrishna Prakashan".
• In Malayalam, "The mother of 1084", and "Aranyer Adhikaar" were translated by Lila Sarkar. Can be found from D.C. Books, Kollaiya, Kerala; and Kerala Shabdam, kerala - 1.
• In Telugu, "Shrishri-ganesh-mahima", "The mother of 1084", and "Aranyer Adhikar" were translated by Geeta Rangaswami. Publisher: Hyderabad Book Trust, Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad 20.
• In Gujrati, "Aranyer Adhikar" was translated by Sukanya Javeri. Publisher, Sadbhab Prakashan, Ahmedabad.
• In Marathi, several of her books are avaliable from SriVidya Prakashan, Astobhuja Road, Pune.
• In Oriya, "Aranyer Adhikar" was translated by Anant Mahapatra. Publisher: Grantha Mandir, Cuttack.
• In Ho language, "Aranyer Adhikar" was translated by Pashupati Jonko.