Sanjena Anshu Sathian is an American novelist and journalist. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, ''Gold Diggers'', was published by

Penguin Press Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...

in 2021.

Early life and education

Sathian was raised in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

by a

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

father and

Kannadiga The Kannadigas or Kannadigaru (), often referred to as Kannada people, are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who natively speak Kannada, primarily in the south Indian state of Karnataka and its surrounding regions. The Kannada language belongs ...

mother, both immigrants from

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. She grew up in

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

and attended

The Westminster Schools The Westminster Schools is a Kindergarten–12 private school in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, founded in 1951. History Westminster originated in 1951 as a reorganization of Atlanta's North Avenue Presbyterian School (NAPS), a girls' school ...

. In high school, she competed in

policy debate Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...

, winning the national championship as a senior. She attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, graduating in 2013 with a B.A. in English. She was a recipient of a 2017 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. The fellowship supported her studies at the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

, from which she graduated in 2019 with an MFA in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

Career

After graduating from college, Sathian worked as a technology journalist 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 ...

before moving to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to work as a foreign correspondent. Sathian's debut novel, ''Gold Diggers'', was published by

on April 6, 2021. It was sold to Penguin Press after a seven-way auction. ''Gold Diggers'' is a

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 ...

novel that follows Neil Narayan, a second-generation Indian teenager from the suburbs of Atlanta. It is tale of gold heists and alchemy. In February 2021, it was announced that the novel is being adapted into a television series by

Mindy Kaling Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979),Additional archive on June 25, 2015. known professionally as Mindy Kaling (), is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Known for her work on television, she has received a Tony Awa ...

's production company

Kaling International Kaling International, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded by Mindy Kaling. It is known for producing the television series ''The Mindy Project'' (2012–2017), ''Never Have I Ever'' (2020–2023), '' The Sex Lives ...

. Sathian will be a co-writer and co-executive producer of the adaptation, while Kaling and Howard Klein will be its executive producers. Ron Charles of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' praised the novel's "effervescent social satire" and "astonishing cultural richness", calling it an "invaluable new alloy of American literature." Charles also compared it to the works of

Aimee Bender Aimee Bender (born June 28, 1969) is an American novelist and short story writer, known for her surreal stories and characters. She is a 2011 recipient of the Alex Awards. Biography Born to a American Jews, Jewish family, Bender received her un ...

, Karen Russell and

Colson Whitehead Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of nine novels, including his 1999 in literature, 1999 debut ''The Intuitionist''; ''The Underground Railroad (novel), The Underground Railroad'' (2016) ...

. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' praised Sathian's "sharp" characterization, while ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' praised her "page-turner" prose. ''

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 ...

'' wrote that it "deftly weaves together magic and history to produce a compelling coming-of-age story." The novel was selected for ''

''s "10 Best Books of 2021" list. On April 13, 2023, Sanjena was awarded the biennial Townsend Prize for Fiction for ''Gold Diggers''. Sathian's short stories have appeared in ''

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

'', '' The Masters Review'', '' Joyland'', and ''Salt Hill''. She has written nonfiction pieces, including for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

'', ''The Juggernaut'', ''

The Millions ''The Millions'' is an online literary magazine created by C. Max Magee in 2003. It contains articles about literary topics and book reviews. ''The Millions'' has several regular contributors as well as frequent guest appearances by literary no ...

'', and '' OZY''.

Works

Novels

* *

Short stories

* * * * * * *

Selected articles

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sathian, Sanjena Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American people of Kannada descent American people of Malayali descent American novelists of Indian descent American women novelists American women writers of Indian descent Magic realism writers Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Yale College alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni The Westminster Schools alumni Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows