Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (1956 - ) is an Indian-American author, poet, and professor of English at The University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Non-resident_Indian_and_Person_of_Indian_Origin#Statistics_on_Indians_in_the_US be merged into this article or section. ... The University of Houston Creative Writing Program is a graduate fiction and poetry program located in Houston, Texas. ...

Background

Divakaruni was born in Kolkata, India. She received her B.A. from the University of Calcutta in 1976. That same year, she went to the United States to attend Wright State University where she received her Master's degree. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 (Christopher Marlowe was the subject of her doctoral dissertation).   (IPA: [] Bengali: কলকাতা) (formerly  ) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. ... This is a list of notable people connected to the University of Calcutta. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ... Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593?) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. ...

Career

She has taught at Foothill College in Los Altos, California. She has also worked as a babysitter, a store clerk, a bread slicer, a dining hall attendant, and in laboratories. She now lives in Texas, where she teaches at The University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Entrance to Foothill College Example of Foothills unique campus architecture Foothill College is not a community college located in Los Altos Hills, California and is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. ... Los Altos is the name of several places, including: the former state of Los Altos, Central America, now divided between Guatemala and Mexico the city of Los Altos, California, United States the town of Los Altos, Tamaulipas, Mexico the town of Los Altos, Veracruz, Mexico Los Altos in Burgos Province... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... The University of Houston Creative Writing Program is a graduate fiction and poetry program located in Houston, Texas. ...

Divakaruni is also a co-founder and former president of a helpline for South Asian women who are dealing with various forms of abuse from others. The organization, Maitri, was founded in 1991. Map of South Asia South Asia is a subregion of Asia comprising the modern states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, . It covers about 4,480,000 km², or 10 percent of the continent, and is also known as the Indian subcontinent. ...

Works

Fiction

Divakaruni's work has been published in over 50 magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and The New Yorker and her writing has been included in over 30 anthologies. The Atlantic redirects here; for the ocean, see Atlantic Ocean. ... The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ...

Her next work will be a re-telling of the Indian epic, The Mahabharata told from the female characters' perspective. [1] The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. ... Mahabharat redirects here. ...

Film and television

Her novel, The Mistress of Spices, was released as the film The Mistress of Spices in 2005. It is directed by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a script by Berges and his wife, Gurinder Chadha. The film stars Aishwarya Rai. Mistress of Spices is a Hollywood film based on writer Chitra Devakarunis book. ... Mistress of Spices (2005) is a film by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Berges. ... Paul Mayeda Berges is a film writer and director who grew up in Torrance, California. ... Image:Gurinder Chadha. ... Aishwarya Rai (Tulu-Kannada: ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯ ರೈ, Devanāgarī: ऐश्वर्या रय, IPA: ) (born on November 1, 1973), is an Indian actress. ...

In addition, her novel Sister of my Heart was made into a television series in Tamil and aired in India, as Anbulla Snegithiye (Loving Friend). [2]

Bibliography

• Fiction
  • Queen of Dreams (novel) (2004)
  • The Conch Bearer (novel) (2003)
  • Neela: Victory Song (novel) (2002)
  • The Vine of Desire (novel) (2002)
  • The Unknown Errors of our Lives (novel) (2001)
  • Sister of My Heart (novel) (1999)
  • Leaving Yuba City (novel) (1997)
  • The Mistress of Spices (1997)
  • Arranged Marriage (novel) (1995)
  • Black Candle (novel) (1991)
  • The Reason for Nasturiums (novel) (1990)
  • Dark Like the River (novel) (1987)

• Poetry
  • Leaving Yuba City (1997)
  • Black Candle (1991)
  • The Reason for Nasturtiums (1990)

• Anthologies
  • California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century (2004)

// Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghes The Last Crossing to be read across the nation. ... See also: 2002 in literature, other events of 2003, 2004 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 2001 in literature, other events of 2002, 2003 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 2000 in literature, other events of 2001, 2002 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1998 in literature, other events of 1999, 2000 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1996 in literature, other events of 1997, 1998 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Mistress of Spices, (1997), set in contemporary Oakland, California is a novel by Indian American writer and University of Houston Creative Writing Program professor Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. ... See also: 1994 in literature, other events of 1995, 1996 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1990 in literature, other events of 1991, 1992 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1989 in literature, other events of 1990, 1991 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1986 in literature, other events of 1987, 1988 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

Quote

"Badly and tentatively I began writing early poems. You think I'm being modest but I'm not. I destroyed those sentimental and bad poems recently so no archivist could find them." - Chitra Divakaruni^{[citation needed]}.

Awards

• 1997: The Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize and the Pushcart Prize for Leaving Yuba City: New and Selected Poems.
• 1997: Los Angeles Times Best Book for Mistress of Spices.
• 1995: The American Book Award for Arranged Marriage: Stories.
• PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Prize for Fiction for Arranged Marriage: Stories.
• Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for Fiction for Arranged Marriage: Stories.
• PEN Oakland Award.
• 2000 National Book Award judge.

The National Book Award is one of the most important literary prizes in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and are presently awarded in each...

References

• Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni." In Literature: The Human Experience, 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: 1544.

See also

• List of Indian Americans
• Indian English literature

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Indian English Literature (IEL) refers to the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language and whose mother tongue is usually one of the numerous languages of India. ...

External links

Biographies

• Voices from the Gaps biography
• SAWNET biography
• Emory Biography
• SAJA Biography

Miscellaneous

• Official Website
• Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni at the Internet Movie Database.
• Chitra Divakaruni at Salon
• Chitra Divakaruni at Random House
• 2 Poem Excerpts from her book, "Leaving Yuba City."