Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born Chitralekha Banerjee, 1956) is an Indian-born American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

Creative Writing Program. Her short story collection, ''Arranged Marriage'', won an American Book Award in 1996. Two of her novels ('' The Mistress of Spices'' and '' Sister of My Heart''), as well as a short story (''The Word Love)'' were adapted into films. Divakaruni's works are largely set in India and the United States, and often focus on the experiences of

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

immigrants. She writes for children as well as adults, and has published novels in multiple

genres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other form ...

, including realistic fiction, historical fiction,

magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...

, myth and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

Early life and education

Divakaruni was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, India. She received her B.A. from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1976. In the same year, she went to the United States to attend

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...

, where she received a master's degree. She received a PhD in English from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1985 (

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

was the subject of her doctoral dissertation).

Career

Divakaruni put herself through graduate school by taking on odd jobs, working as a babysitter, a store clerk, a bread slicer in a bakery, a laboratory assistant at

, and a dining hall attendant at International House, Berkeley. She was a graduate teaching assistant at U.C. Berkeley. She taught in California at

Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 84 Associate degree programs, 2 Bachelor's degree p ...

and Diablo Valley College. She now lives and teaches in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where she is the McDavid Professor of Creative Writing at the

Creative Writing Program. Divakaruni is the co-founder and former president of Maitri, a helpline founded in 1991 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

for

women dealing with

domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

. Divakaruni is on its advisory board and on the advisory board of Daya, a similar service in Houston. She has served on the board of Pratham Houston, an organisation working to bring literacy to disadvantaged Indian children, and is on their emeritus board.

Works

Fiction and poetry

Divakaruni began her writing career as a poet. Her volumes of poetry include ''Black Candle'' and ''Leaving Yuba City''. Her first collection of stories ''Arranged Marriage'' won an American Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, and a Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. Her major novels include ''The Mistress of Spices'', '' Sister of My Heart'', ''Queen of Dreams'', ''One Amazing Thing'', '' Palace of Illusions'', ''Oleander Girl'' and ''Before We Visit the Goddess''. She has also written a young adult fantasy series called ''The Brotherhood of the Conch'' which is located in India and draws on the culture and folklore of that region. The first book of the series, ''The Conch Bearer'' was nominated for the 2003 Bluebonnet Award. The second book of the series, ''The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming'' came out in 2005 and the third and final book of the series, ''Shadowland'', was published in 2009. Divakaruni's novel ''The Palace of Illusions'', was a national best-seller for over a year in India and is a re-telling of the Indian epic ''The

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' from

Draupadi Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the central heroine of the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. In the epic, she is the princess of Panchala Kingdom, who later becomes the empress of K ...

's perspective. Divakaruni's work has been published in ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', and her writing has been included in anthologies including the '' Best American Short Stories'', the '' O. Henry Prize Stories'', and the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

anthology. Her fiction has been translated into 29 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Indonesian, Bengali, Turkish and Japanese.

Film, television, theatre and opera

Divakaruni's novel ''The Mistress of Spices'' was released as a film of the same name in 2005. It was directed by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a script by Berges and his wife,

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...

. Her novel ''Sister of my Heart'' was made into a television series by

Suhasini Maniratnam Suhasini Maniratnam (; born 15 August 1961) is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. Early life Suhasini's paternal cousins Anu Hasan, Shruti Haasan and Akshara Haasan have also since become acto ...

in Tamil and aired in India, as ''Anbulla Snegithiye (Loving Friend)''. In 2018 the producers NR Pachisia und Dipankar Jojo Chaki secured the rights to a film adaption of '' The Palace of Illusions''. Divakaruni's story ''Clothes'' from the collection ''Arranged Marriage'' was adapted into play under the title ''Arranged Marriage'' by Peggy Shannon in 2004, 2010, and 2016. In 2013, Divakaruni wrote the libretto to a chamber opera for Houston Grand Opera, ''River of Light'', about the life of an Indian woman in Houston. It premiered in 2014 with original compositions by Jack Perla and was shown again in 2015 by the opera company Festival Opera, directed by Tanya Kane-Parry at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. ''The Palace of Illusions'' was adapted into a play named ''Fire and Ice: Draupadi's Story'' by Joe DiSabatino and performed in India under his direction. A Bollywood movie with the title ''Mahabharat'', starring

Deepika Padukone Deepika Padukone (; born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Hindi films. She is India's highest-paid actress, as of 2023, and List of awards and nominations received by Deepika Padukone, her accolades include thre ...

as Draupadi, is being prepared in India based on ''The Palace of Illusions''. The premiere was scheduled for 2021. As of 2021, her novel ''One Amazing Thing'' has been optioned to become a Bollywood film.

Honors and awards

* 1996 American Book Award (''Arranged Marriage'') * 1996 PEN Josephine Miles Literary Award (''Arranged Marriage'') * Bay Area Book Reviewers' Award (''Arranged Marriage'') * 1997

(''Leaving Yuba City: New and Selected Poems'') * 2003 Pushcart Prize (''The Lives of Strangers'') * 2007 Distinguished Writer Award from the South Asian Literary Association

Publications

Fiction

* ''Arranged Marriage: Stories'' (1995) * '' The Mistress of Spices'' (1997) * '' Sister of My Heart'' (1999) * ''The Unknown Errors of our Lives'' (2001) * ''The Vine of Desire'' (2002) * ''Queen of Dreams'' (2004) * ''The Lives of Strangers'' (2007) * '' The Palace of Illusions: A Novel'' (2008) * '' One Amazing Thing'' (2010) * ''Oleander Girl'' (2013) * ''Before We Visit the Goddess'' (2016) * ''The Forest of Enchantments'' (2019) * ''The Last Queen'' (2021) * ''

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

'' (2023)

Young adult and children's

* ''Neela: Victory Song'' (2002) * ''Grandma and the Great Gourd'' (2013) (children's picture book)

Brotherhood of the Conch series

* '' The Conch Bearer'' (2003) * '' The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming'' (2005) * ''Shadowland'' (2009)

Poetry

* "Dark like the River", 1987. * ''The Reason for Nasturtiums'', Berkeley (Berkeley Poets Workshop) 1990. * ''Black Candle. Poems About Women from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh'', Corvallis (Calyx Books) 1991. * ''Leaving Yuba City'', St. Louis (Turtleback Books) 1997.

Anthologies

* ''Multitude: Cross Cultural Readings for Writers'' (1993) * ''We Too Sing America'' (1997) * ''California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century'' (2004)

Personal life

Divakaruni lives in Houston with her husband, Murthy. She has two sons, Anand and Abhay (whose names she has used in her children's novels).Author's Bio on her webpage
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References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee 21st-century American novelists Indian emigrants to the United States American women short story writers University of Calcutta alumni Wright State University alumni Bengali writers 1956 births Living people University of Houston faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni American people of Bengali descent 20th-century American novelists American novelists of Indian descent American women novelists American women writers of Indian descent American short story writers of Asian descent 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian novelists Writers from Kolkata Women writers from West Bengal Novelists from West Bengal Poets from West Bengal PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners American Book Award winners Novelists from Texas American women academics