Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in Calcutta. She is an author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Two of her best-known novels are The Palace of Illusions, and The Forest of Enchantments, in which she revisits the myth of Draupadi and Sita, respectively. Her short story collection, Arranged Marriage, won an American Book Award in 1996. Her novels The Mistress of Spices and Sister of my Heart, as well as a short story, The Word Love, have been adapted into films.
Divakaruni’s works are largely set in India and the United States, and often focus on the experiences of South Asian immigrants, especially women. She has published novels in various genres, including realistic fiction, historical fiction, magical realism, myth and fantasy. Her books have been translated into 29 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Bengali, Hungarian, Turkish, Hindi, and Japanese.
She is the recipient of an American Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles award, a Premio Scanno award, a Light of India award, a SALA award, two Pushcart prizes, an Allen Ginsberg poetry award, a Rona Jaffe Award, a Barbara Deming Memorial Award, and a Houston Literary Award. In 2015, Divakaruni was included in the Economic Times’ List of 20 Most Influential Global Indian Women.
Her latest novel, Independence, was published in…
