Amitava Kumar (born 17 March 1963) is an Indian writer and
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
. He is a Professor of English at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
.
Personal Life
Kumar was born in the city of
Arrah
Arrah (also transliterated as Ara) is a city and a municipal corporation in Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur district (formerly known as Shahabad district) in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the headquarters of Bhojpur district, India, Bhojpur ...
in the Indian state of
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
on 17 March 1963 and grew up in the nearby city of
Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
.
His father, Ishwar Chandra was a Senior Bihar Bureaucrat from Jadopur, East Champaran Bihar He attended
St Michael's High School. In India, Kumar earned a bachelor's degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from
Hindu College,
Delhi University
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
in 1984. He holds two master's degrees in
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
and Literature from
Delhi University
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
(1986) and
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
(1988) respectively. In 1993, he received his doctoral degree from the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
. His wife Mona Ali is an economics professor at SUNY New Paltz. Kumar lives with his family in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...
, New York.
As a professor at Vassar College, Kumar has made significant connections in the writing and journalism world. Kumar served as a mentor to journalist Kelly Stout and Alanna Okun, a senior editor at
Vox, while they were students at Vassar.
The death of Kumar's parents had a significant effect on the content of his writing. He reminisced on his father and ancestors in a 2022 article for
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
. In a 2024 article for Lit Hub, he compared experiencing the death of his father to various literary accounts of death, like in
Blake Morrison
Philip Blake Morrison (born 8 October 1950) is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?' ...
's memoir ''When Did You Last See Your Father?''.
Work
Overview
Kumar is the author of ''Husband of a Fanatic'' (The New Press, 2005 and Penguin-India, 2004), ''Bombay-London-New York'' (Routledge and Penguin-India, 2002), ''Passport Photos'' (University of California Press and Penguin-India, 2000), the book of poems ''No Tears for the N.R.I.'' (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 1996), the novel ''Home Products'' (Picador-India, 2007 and as ''Nobody Does the Right Thing'' in 2009).
His prize-winning book is ''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb: A Writer’s Report on the Global War on Terror'' (Duke University Press, 2010; and as ''Evidence of Suspicion'', 2009). In his review,
Dwight Garner
Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...
at the ''New York Times'' called it a "perceptive and soulful – if at times academic – meditation on the global war on terror and its cultural and human repercussions."
It was also awarded the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the Asian American Literary Awards.
''Husband of a Fanatic'' was an "Editors' Choice" book at the ''New York Times'';
''Bombay-London-New York'' was on the list of "Books of the Year" in ''New Statesman'' (UK);
and ''Passport Photos'' won an "Outstanding Book of the Year" award from the Myers Program for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America. His novel ''Home Products'' was short-listed for India's premier literary prize, the
Vodafone Crossword Book Award
The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...
.
Kumar was the scriptwriter for two documentary films: ''Dirty Laundry'' – about the national-racial politics of Indian South Africans – and
''Pure Chutney'' – about the descendants of indentured Indian labourers in Trinidad.
His academic writing and literary criticism has appeared in several journals, including ''
Critical Inquiry
''Critical Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal in the humanities published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Department of English Language and Literature (University of Chicago). While the topics and historica ...
'', ''
Critical Quarterly'', ''
College Literature'', ''
Race and Class
''Race & Class'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal on contemporary racism and imperialism. It is published quarterly by SAGE Publications on behalf of the Institute of Race Relations (United Kingdom), Institute of Race Relations and ...
'', ''
American Quarterly
''American Quarterly'' is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Studies Association. The journal covers topics of both domestic and international concern in the United States and is considered a leading resource in th ...
'', ''
Rethinking Marxism
''Rethinking Marxism'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Marxist analyses of economics, culture, and society. It was established in 1988 and has been published by Routledge since 2003 on behalf of the Association for Economi ...
'', ''
Minnesota Review'', ''
Journal of Advanced Composition'', ''
Amerasia Journal
''Amerasia Journal'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1971 that covers Pacific Islander and Asian American studies. The journal regularly publishes special issues addressing particular themes.
History
The Amerasia jou ...
'' and ''
Modern Fiction Studies''.
As a journalist, Kumar has regularly authored articles for newspapers and magazines across the world such as ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'', ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', ''
The Caravan
''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. It was initially launched in 1940 by Vishwa Nath, becoming a prominent monthly magazine before ceasing publication in 1988. T ...
'', ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' and ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
''. In 2008, on
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
's ''Riz Khan Show'', Kumar was interviewed on the use of terror threats by governments to advance their own political agendas; the interview aired on the
Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...
Network. In February 2011, Kumar interviewed Indian novelist
Arundhati Roy
Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...
for ''
Guernica Magazine
''Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics'' is an American digital magazine known for publishing fiction, poetry, essays, reportage, art, and interviews that focus primarily on global perspectives and the intersection between art and politics. ...
''.
Kumar,
Ruchir Joshi,
Jeet Thayil
Jeet Thayil (born 1959) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including ''These Errors Are Correct'' (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, ''Narcopolis (book ...
and
Hari Kunzru, were threatened with arrest for reading excerpts from
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
's ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel from the Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical re ...
'', which is
banned in India, at the 2012
Jaipur Literature Festival
The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), often hailed as the "''greatest literary show on Earth''," is a renowned annual cultural and literary festival held in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Established in 2006 by writers Namita Gokhale and William Dalry ...
. In March 2013, Kumar collaborated with
Teju Cole
Teju Cole (born June 27, 1975) is a Nigerian American writer, photographer, and art historian. He is the author of a novella, '' Every Day Is for the Thief'' (2007); a novel, '' Open City'' (2011); an essay collection, ''Known and Strange Things' ...
on a text-with-photographs called "Who's Got the Address?"
Kumar's most recent novel, ''My Beloved Life'', was published in 2024 to positive reviews.
Published works
Books
* ''No Tears for the N.R.I.'', Writers Workshop, 1996, , a book of poems
* ''Passport Photos'', University of California Press, 2000, , multi-genre book on immigration and postcoloniality
* ''Bombay–London–New York'', Routledge, 2002, , literary memoir cum critical report on Indian fiction
* ''Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate'', The New Press, 2005, , book on writing and religious violence
* ''Home Products'' (published in the U.S. under the title ''Nobody Does the Right Thing'' b
Duke University Press 2010, )
* ''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm A Tiny Bomb'', Duke University Press Books, 2010, , a non-fiction book about the war on terror, and the literary as well as artistic responses to it.
* ''A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna'', Duke University Press Books, 2014,
* ''Lunch with a Bigot: The Writer in the World'', Duke University Press Books, 2015,
*''Immigrant, Montana'', Knopf, 2018, , first published in India as ''The Lovers'', Aleph, 2017,
*''Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style'', Duke University Press Books, 2020,
*''A Time Outside This Time'', Penguin Random House, 2021, ISBN 9780593319017
*''The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal'', HarperCollins India, 2022, , a book of drawings and diary entries
*The Yellow Book: A Traveller's Diary, HarperCollins India, 2023,
ISBN 9789356996038
*''My Beloved Life'', 2024, ISBN 9780593536063
Edited works
* ''Away: The Indian Writer as an Expatriate'', edited volume of essays.
* ''World Bank Literature'', edited volume of essays on global economies and literature.
* ''The Humour and the Pity'', edited volume of essays on
V.S. Naipaul.
* ''Poetics/Politics: Radical Aesthetics for the Classroom'', edited volume of essays on radical aesthetics and pedagogy.
* ''Class Issues: Pedagogy, Cultural Studies, and the Public Sphere'', edited volume of essays on radical teaching.
Forewords and introductory notes
*
The Little Book of Terror', by
Daisy Rockwell
* ''Where the Wild Frontiers Are'', by
Manan Ahmed.
* "Duty-Free Indians", a Foreword to ''Suburban Sahibs: Three Immigrant Families and their Passage from India'' to America by
S. Mitra Kalita.
* "In Class", a Foreword to ''Class and Its Others'', edited by
J.K. Gibson-Graham.
Awards and fellowships
Kumar was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
in 2016.
He has also been awarded the Lannan Foundation Marfa Residency, residency at
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
, a Fiction Fellowship at the
Norman Mailer Writers Colony, a Barach Fellowship at the
Wesleyan Writers Festival, and has received awards from the
South Asian Journalists Association for three consecutive years. In addition, he has been awarded research fellowships from the
NEH,
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
,
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, and
University of California-Riverside.
''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb'' was also judged the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the Asian American Literary Awards.
External links
Official website*
ttp://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=23885 Interview for the Wisconsin Book Festival, 2008Interview on blogsite "Between the Lines"Amitava Kumar's short story "Postmortem" on NPRWYNC interview on ''The Leonard Lopate Show'', 2010WNYC interview on the ''Brian Lehrer Show'', 2015Amitava Kumar on the PEN-''Charlie Hebdo'' controversyInterview on Full StopThe Seen and the Unseen Podcast, 2022
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Amitava
1963 births
Living people
Hindu College, Delhi alumni
Syracuse University alumni
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni
Indian emigrants to the United States
Vassar College faculty
American male writers of Indian descent
Modern School (New Delhi) alumni
Writers from Patna
Indian social sciences writers
21st-century Indian non-fiction writers