Akhil Sharma (born July 22, 1971) is an Indian-American author and professor of creative writing. His first published novel '' An Obedient Father'' won the 2001 PEN/Hemingway Award. His second, '' Family Life'', won the 2015 Folio Prize and 2016 International Dublin Literary Award.

Early life

Born in Delhi, India, he immigrated to the United States when he was eight, and grew up in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

, where he graduated from J. P. Stevens High School. Sharma described experiencing racism in school and in the city: "people cursing at us in the street, and being spat at at school." Sharma's teenage brother was in a pool accident that left him in a thirty-year coma, an incident that forms the basis of Sharma's semi-autobiographical novel, '' Family Life.'' Sharma studied at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where he earned his B.A. in public policy at the Woodrow Wilson School. While there, he also studied under a succession of notable writers, including

Russell Banks Russell Earl Banks (March 28, 1940 – January 8, 2023) was an American writer of fiction and poetry. His novels are known for "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". He drew from ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. His notable works include '' The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), '' The Music of Chance'' (1990), ' ...

John McPhee John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American author. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourt ...

, and

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

. He then won a

Stegner Fellowship The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner (1909–1993), a historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty m ...

to the writing program at Stanford, where he won two O. Henry Awards (1995 and 1997). He then attempted to become a screenwriter, but, disappointed with his fortunes, left to attend

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. Sharma went on to become an assistant professor in the creative writing MFA program at Rutgers University-Newark.

Career

Sharma has published stories in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...

'', '' The Quarterly'', ''

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

'', the '' Best American Short Stories'' anthology, and the ''O. Henry Award Winners'' anthology. His short story "Cosmopolitan" was anthologized in '' The Best American Short Stories 1998'', and was also made into a 2003 film of the same name, which has appeared on the PBS series '' Independent Lens''. Sharma's first novel was '' An Obedient Father'' for which he won the 2001 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Sharma's second novel, '' Family Life'' was published by W. W. Norton & Company in the U.S. and

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

in the U.K. in April 2014. ''The New York Times'' described the

semi-autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

novel as "deeply unnerving and gorgeously tender at its core.". David Sedaris noted that " ery page is alive and surprising, proof of harma’shuge, unique talent." Sharma wrote about the 13 years it took to write ''Family Life'' in an essay on ''The New Yorkers website. ''Family Life'' won the 2015 Folio Prize for fiction and the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award. He shares office space with the writers John Wray, Isaac Fitzgerald, and Alice Sola Kim. He and Wray had previously been part of an informal writing group that includes

Gary Shteyngart Gary Shteyngart ( ; born Igor Semyonovich Shteyngart on July 5, 1972)' is a Soviet-born American writer. He is the author of five novels (including ''Absurdistan'' and '' Super Sad True Love Story'') and a memoir. Much of his work is satirical ...

, Suketu Mehta, and Ray Isle. In July 2017, Norton published Sharma's collection of short stories, ''A Life of Adventure and Delight''.

Personal life

Sharma and his first wife, Lisa Swanson, met in law school and married in 2001. They later divorced. In 2020, Sharma married Irish psychologist Christine Mulligan, with whom he has a daughter.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' An Obedient Father'' (2000) * ''Family Life'' (2014)

Short stories

Non-fiction

* * *

Awards and honours

*2001 PEN/Hemingway Award winner for ''An Obedient Father'' *2001 Whiting Award winner for ''An Obedient Father'' *2014 ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'' Ten Best Books of the Year selection for ''Family Life'' *2014 New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year selection for ''Family Life'' *2015 Folio Prize winner for ''Family Life'' *2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature shortlist for ''Family Life'' *2016 International Dublin Literary Award for ''Family Life''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Akhil 1971 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers American novelists of Indian descent Harvard Law School alumni Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winners Indian emigrants to the United States J. P. Stevens High School alumni People from Edison, New Jersey The New Yorker people Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers American short story writers of Asian descent