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Amitava Kumar

アミタヴァ・クマール

Amitava Kumar

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1963-03-17 （Arrah, Bihar, India）
Nationality
Indian
Languages
English, Hindi
Residence History
Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (resident while at Vassar College)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Journalist, Professor of English
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
Vassar College (Professor of English)
Nominations
Home Products — Vodafone Crossword Book Award (shortlisted, 2008)

Education

Hindu College, University of Delhi
Political Science / Political Science
Degree: Bachelor
Period: 1980–1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: India
BA in Political Science
University of Delhi
Linguistics / Linguistics
Degree: Master
Period: 1984–1986
Year of Graduation: 1986
Country: India
MA in Linguistics
Syracuse University
Literature / Literature
Degree: Master
Period: 1986–1988
Year of Graduation: 1988
Country: United States
MA in Literature
University of Minnesota (Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature)
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature / Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
Degree: PhD
Period: 1989–1993
Year of Graduation: 1993
Country: United States
PhD in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship
2016
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Asian American Literary Awards — Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year
2010
Work: A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb
Category: ノンフィクション
Organization: Asian American Literary Awards
Result: 受賞
United States Artists Fellowship
Organization: United States Artists
Result: 受賞
Myers Program Outstanding Book of the Year
Work: Passport Photos
Organization: Myers Program for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America
Result: 受賞
Vodafone Crossword Book Award (shortlisted)
2008
Work: Home Products
Organization: Vodafone Crossword
Result: 最終候補

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

No Tears for the N.R.I.

1996 Poetry

A collection of poems touching on migration and diaspora experiences.

migrationidentity

Passport Photos

2000 Multi-genre (essays, criticism)

A multi-genre book on immigration, border-crossing, and postcoloniality.

immigrationpostcolonialismborders

Bombay–London–New York

2002 Literary memoir and criticism

A mix of memoir and critical reportage on Indian fiction and its global contexts.

literaturemigrationcomparative culture

Husband of a Fanatic

2005 Non-fiction

A personal investigation into religious violence and related experiences; an NYT Editors' Choice.

religious violencepersonal memoir

A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb

2010 Non-fiction (political and cultural commentary)

A meditation on the global war on terror and its cultural and human repercussions; winner of an Asian American Literary Award.

war on terrorsurveillanceprejudice and xenophobia

Home Products / Nobody Does the Right Thing

2007 Novel

A novel about family and society; shortlisted for a major Indian literary prize.

familysocial change

Immigrant, Montana

2018 Novel

A novel centered on immigration; first published in India as The Lovers.

immigrationloveAmerican society

My Beloved Life

2024 Novel / Memoir elements

Most recent novel published in 2024, received positive reviews.

memoryfamilylife transitions

Bibliography

  • No Tears for the N.R.I. (1996)
  • Passport Photos (2000)
  • Bombay–London–New York (2002)
  • Husband of a Fanatic (2005)
  • Home Products / Nobody Does the Right Thing (2007 / 2010)
  • A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb (2010)
  • A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna (2014)
  • Lunch with a Bigot: The Writer in the World (2015)
  • Immigrant, Montana (2018)
  • Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style (2020)
  • A Time Outside This Time (2021)
  • The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal (2022)
  • The Yellow Book: A Traveller's Diary (2023)
  • My Beloved Life (2024)

Adaptations

  • Dirty Laundry (documentary, scriptwriter)
  • Pure Chutney (documentary, scriptwriter)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Multi-genre blending of essay and criticismMemoir-inflected personal narrationAnalytical style engaging political and social questions
Recurring Motifs
migration and diasporaidentity and belongingmemory and familysurveillance and prejudice

Legacy

Amitava Kumar is internationally recognized for his fiction and criticism addressing migration, postcolonialism, and the war on terror; he is also an influential educator and mentor, having received multiple fellowships and awards and reaching audiences in both the U.S. and India.

Quotes

  • "Perceptive and soulful — if at times academic — a meditation on the global war on terror and its cultural and human repercussions."
    Source: The New York Times (review by Dwight Garner) (2010)

Trivia

  • Born in Arrah, Bihar, and raised in Patna.
  • Professor of English at Vassar College.
  • One of several authors threatened with arrest at the 2012 Jaipur Literature Festival for reading excerpts of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses.
  • Has written scripts for documentary films.