Author Jhumpa Lahiri, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000, will speak Monday at the Whittenberger Auditorium as part of the Hutton Honors College’s “Many Worlds, One Globe” initiative.
The London-born, Rhode Island-raised author won the Pulitzer, as well as the PEN/Hemingway Award and the New Yorker Debut of the Year for her debut story collection, “Interpreter of Maladies.”
In 2003, Lahiri published her first novel, “The Namesake,” which follows an Indian family that immigrates to the suburbs of Boston. The book was adapted to a film starring Kal Penn in 2006.
Lahiri’s other works include the short story collection “Unaccustomed Earth,” which traces the lives of characters across the globe, and the 2013 novel “The Lowland.”
The honors college launched its “Many Worlds, One Globe” initiative in February. The series of lectures, workshops and other events aims to connect global understanding to identity, according to a February IU press release.
“Dr. Lahiri’s works address the struggles and the triumphs of our existence in this multicultural world, and her visit will inspire a thoughtful launch to our program,” honors college Dean Andrea Ciccarelli said Tuesday in an IU press release.
In a 2013 interview with the New York Times, Lahiri disagreed with the concept of “immigrant fiction” as its own genre.
“This distinction doesn’t agree with me,” she said. “Given the history of the United States, all American fiction could be classified as immigrant fiction.”
Jack Evans
