Bhanu Kapil (born 1968) is a British-born poet and author of Indian descent. She is best known for her books ''The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers'' (2001), ''Incubation: A Space for Monsters'' (2006), and ''Ban en Banlieue'' (2015). In 2020, Kapil won one of eight Windham-Campbell Literature Prizes.

Personal life and education

Kapil was born in 1968 outside of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to Indian parents. In 1990, she moved to the United States, then returned to England in 2019. She presently spends her time in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Kapil received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in English Literature from the State University of New York Brockport.

Career

Kapil's first book, ''The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers'', was written in the late 1990s. She has cited

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 1980

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

win as a formative experience for her, saying "Perhaps then, for the first time, I understood that someone like me: could. Could look like me and write." In early 2015, '' The Believer'' held a round-table discussion of her work over the course of three days. 2009's ''Humanimal: A Project for Future Children'' took its inspiration from the nonfiction account of

Amala and Kamala Amala ( – 21 September 1921) and Kamala ( – 14 November 1929) were two "feral girls" from Midnapore, Bengal (Currently West Bengal), India, who were alleged to have been raised by a wolf family. Their story attracted substantial mainstream ...

, two girls found "living with wolves in colonial Bengal." Douglas A. Martin has described ''Incubation: A Space For Monsters'' as "a feminist, post-colonial ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

''." Kapil also contributed the introduction to Amina Cain's short story collection ''I Go To Some Hollow''. Her public readings have elements of performance art. Her poetry appeared in a collection edited by Brian Droitcour that was produced as part of the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...

's 2015 Triennial. Aside from writing, Kapil has taught at

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

, as well as in

Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...

’s

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

program. She has also contributed and co-taught in the Master's in Leadership for Sustainability program at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. In 2019, Kapil received a year-long fellowship at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

; after the fellowship, she remained as an artist by-fellow at

Churchill College Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

. In 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

Awards and honours

''Incubation: A Space for Monsters'' was a Small Press Distribution best-seller. ''Ban en Banlieue'' was named one of ''Time Out New York'''s most anticipated books of early 2015. In 2019, Kapil received the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellowship from the

. In March 2020 Kapil was awarded one of eight Windham-Campbell Literature Prizes. In January 2021, she was awarded the 2020 T. S Eliot Poetry Prize for ''How to Wash a Heart''. She has also received the

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards ( ) are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...

from the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Publications

Books

*''The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers'', Kelsey Street Press, 2001, *''Incubation: A Space for Monsters'', Leon Works, 2006, *''Humanimal: A Project for Future Children'', Kelsey Street Press, 2009, *''Schizophrene'',

Nightboat Books Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books. History The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and ...

, 2011, *''Ban en Banlieue'',

, 2015, *''entre-Ban'', Vallum, 2017, *''How to Wash a Heart'',

Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...

, 2020,

Chapbooks

*''Autobiography of a Cyborg'', Leroy, 2000. *''Water Damage: A Map of Three Black Days'', Corollary Press, 2008. *''Treinte Ban: A psychiatric handbook to accompany a work undone'', New Herring Press, 2014.

References

External links

Review of ''How to Wash a Heart'' in ''The Georgia Review''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapil, Bhanu 1968 births Living people 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers American women writers of Indian descent Naropa University faculty American women poets American women academics Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge Alumni of Loughborough University State University of New York at Brockport alumni