(compiled by Mary Anne Mohanraj)
This is a list in progress (and hopefully always will be) — an ongoing,
comprehensive bibliography of South Asian and diaspora literature,
encompassing fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama, for works
either written in English, or available in English translation. It is
currently rather minimal, but we hope long-term to add detailed
bibliographic information and possibly brief descriptions as well, to help
readers find the books they want to read.
If you have additions, suggestions, or corrections for this list, please
send them to m@mamohanraj.com, with the Subject line: DESILIT BOOKLIST.
Thank you!
Last updated: January 22, 2005
- Ahmed, Dilruba
- Josiah, North American Review. Honorable Mention
in 2005 James Hearst Poetry Prize competition.
- Josiah, North American Review. Honorable Mention
- From the Fatwa Series, Hayden’s Ferry Review,
(forthcoming, Issue 38).
- In Brussels I Learn to Love, Crab Orchard Review,
v. 11, no. 1 (forthcoming, Spring 2006).
- Mother and Roulade, Blackbird, v. 4, no. 2,
November 2005. (http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n2/poetry/ahmed_d/index.htm)- Akhtar, Javed
- Alexander, Meena
- The Shock of Arrival
- Ali, Ahmed
- Twilight in Delhi
- Ali, Monica
- Brick Lane
- Ali, Samina
- Madras on Rainy Days
- Alvi, Moniza
- The Country Over My Shoulder
- Carrying My Wife
- Badami, Anita Rau
- The Hero’s Walk
- Baldwin, Shauna Singh
- What the Body Remembers
- Banerjee, Anjali
- Maya Running, YA novel forthcoming Feburary 8, 2005, from
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House in the U.S. and Canada; it will also be
available through Penguin-India - Imaginary Men, a novel set in San Francisco, forthcoming
Oct 2005, from Simon & Schuster/Downtown Press - short story forthcoming in Kahani,
a new magazine for South Asian elementary school children growing up in
the U.S.
- Maya Running, YA novel forthcoming Feburary 8, 2005, from
- Banerjee, Neelanjana
- Fire Sacrifice (trans. David Rubin)
- The Returning
- The Other
- Begamudre, Ven
- Bilwakesh, Champa
- short stories published by India Currents (katha fiction contest
winners) - new story called “The Boston Globe Personal Line” forthcoming spring
2005 Kenyon Review
- short stories published by India Currents (katha fiction contest
- Bissoondath, Neil
- Budhos, Marina Tamar
- The Professor of Light
- Chandra, G.S. Sharat (Pulitzer Prize nominee in poetry)
- Sari of the Gods
- Chandra, Vikram
- Red Earth and Pouring Rain
- Love and Longing in Bombay
- essay on the ‘cult of authenticity’
- Chandwaney, Anita
- “Success and the City,” a short play
- “Gandhi Marg,” full-length play
- Chaudhuri, Amit (won various emerging writer awards)
- Freedom Song (NY Times Notable Book)
- set of three novels
- Dabydeen, Cyril
- Dalrymple, William
- The White Mughals
- The City of Djinns
- Das, Kamala
- My Story: The Compelling Autobiography
- DasGupta, Shamita Das
- The Demon Slayers and Other Stories (Bengali folktales)
- A Patchwork Shawl (creative nonfiction)
- Daswani, Kavita
- For Matrimonial Purposes
- Davidar, David
- The House of Blue Mangoes
- Dawesar, Abha
- Babyji – Release February 2005 by Anchor (Knopf Group).
Forthcoming in India (Penguin), Italy (Feltrinelli) and Spain (Alfaguara).
First
chapter is available on the Anchor site - Miniplanner – 2000
- De Souza, Eunice
- Nine Indian Women Poets: An Anthology, ed.
- Delman, Carmit
- Desai, Anita
- In Custody (made into Merchant/Ivory film)
- Fasting, Feasting
- Baumgartner’s Bombay
- Clear Light of Day
- many more novels
- Desai, Kiran (Anita Desai’s son)
- Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard
- Deshpande, Sashi
- Binding Vines
- several other books
- Divakaruni, Chitra Bannerjee
- The Mistress of Spices
- Sister of My Heart
- The Vine of Desire
- Arranged Marriage
- The Unknown Errors of Our Lives
- Leaving Yuba City
- Black Candle
- Espinet, Ramabai
- The Swinging Bridge
- Gavin, Jamila
- Ghose, Zulfikar
- The Beautiful Empire
- A New History of Torments
- Don Bueno
- The Triple Mirror of the Self
- Ghosh, Amitav
- The Glass Palace
- The Calcutta Chromosome
- Shadow Lines
- In An Antique Land (nonfiction)
- The Circle of Reason
- Gilmore, Rachna
- A Group of One (Jane Addams honor book)
- Gour, Neelum Saran
- Virtual Realities
- Gunesekera, Romesh
- Reef
- Monkfish Moon
- Gupta, Prasenjit
- Indian Errant: Short Stories by Nirmal Verma, translated
from Hindi (Indialog). Stories dealing with identity, displacement, and
exile; the hardcover edition has a substantial scholarly introduction and
the stories in the original Hindi. Available in the U.S. from the Parabaas Bookstore - A Brown Man and Other Stories (Rupa). Short stories.
Available in the U.S. from the Parabaas Bookstore
- Indian Errant: Short Stories by Nirmal Verma, translated
- Gupta, Sunetra
- A Sin of Colors
- Hajratwala, Minal
- Hamid, Mohsin
- Moth Smoke
- Hariharan, Geetha
- In Times of Siege
- Hashmi, Alamgir
- My Second in Kentucky
- Inland and Other Poems
- A Choice of Hashmi’s Verse
- The Ramazan Libation
- Hoque, Abeer
- Olive Witch
- An American Dream
- “Ironed Blue Sky”
- “Dhaka @ Dusk”
- “On Growing”
- “Wiser Than Evening”
- Hyder, Qurratulain (writes in Urdu and English)
- Rivers of Fire
- Ismail, Raviya
- poem “Jasmine Rain” in Desilicious
- Itwaru, Arnold
- Jha, Raj Kamal
- The Blue Bedspread
- Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer (Booker Prize winner)
- Shards of Memory
- Esmond in India
- Travellers
- many more novels
- co-wrote film Howard’s End
- co-wrote film A Room with a View
- Joseph, Ammu
- Kaipa, Summi
- The Epics (http://www.durationpress.com/leroy/epics.htm)
- Was.Or.Am (forthcoming, Atelos Press (www.atelos.org) — an
experimental memoir with aspects of fiction, poetry, and
nonfiction intertwined within.
- Kalita, S. Mitra
- Kamal, Soniah
- two anthologies
- short stories in Pakistan, Canada, the U.S.
- An Isolated Incident, forthcoming fall 2005
Penguin-Putnam
- Kamani, Ginu
- Junglee Girl
- Kamdar, Mira
- Motiba’s Tattoos
- Kapur, Manju
- Difficult Daughters
- Kasturi, Sandra
- Kempadoo, Oonya
- Khan, Rukhsana
- picture books with Pakistani/Muslim themes
- Khan, Uzma Aslam
- The Story of Noble Rot: published by Penguin India in
2001 - Trespassing (shortlisted for Commonwealth Prize Best Book
Eurasia 2003) — “Khan limns the conflicts between modern Western and
traditional Pakistani mores in an intelligent, ambitious novel (her first
to be published in the U.S.) about two star-crossed young lovers in
contemporary Karachi. Daanish, a journalism student in “Amreeka,” as his
aunt calls it, returns home to Karachi for the funeral of his beloved
father, a prominent, forward-thinking doctor. He catches the eye of a
comely Karachi student, Nini, with whom his traditional mother would like
him to make an advantageous marriage. But when Daanish meets Nini’s best
friend, the thoughtful and challenging Dia Monsour, who helps run her
family’s silk farm, romance blossoms quickly. Their families’ disapproval
casts a pall over their meetings, though, and Daanish begins to feel
uncertain about seeing Dia as the date for his return to America draws
closer. Khan’s portrayal of life in Karachi, seen from multiple
perspectives, is rich and complex, and her supporting characters, such as
Salaamat, a young fisherboy who becomes a driver for a group of freedom
fighters whose attacks have a deadly impact on Dia’s family, add great
depth. Khan’s frequent flashbacks can be jarring, and the affair between
Dia and Daanish is stretched perilously thin as the primary story line,
but Khan’s prose, ornate yet precise in its discussions of both love and
politics, mark her as a truly gifted observer of moments grand and
minute.” (Publisher’s Weekly)
- The Story of Noble Rot: published by Penguin India in
- Khosla, Maya
- Keel Bone (poems)
- Khotari, Geeta
- Kirchner, Bharti
- Darjeeling
- Desserts
- Shiva Dancing
- Sharmila’s Book
- Krishnaswami, Uma
- picture books, novels, short stories, retold traditional tales, poetry
- Kumar, Amitava
- Passport Photos (creative nonfiction)
- Bombay-London-New York
- Husband of a Fanatic
- Kumar, Anu (lives in Bombay)
- Letters for Paul, published by Mapin Books, Fall 2005
- In Search of a Raja and Other Stories, 2002
- other short stories have appeared in Little Magazine and websites such as
Sulekha - one story won a highly commended award in the Commonwealth short story
competition in 2004
- Kunzru, Hari
- The Impressionist
- Transmission
- Kurieshi, Hanif
- The Black Album
- The Buddha of Suburbia
- My Beautiful Laundrette (film)
- Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (film)
- London Kills Me
- Outskirts and Other Plays
- Gabriel’s Gift
- Kureishi, Maki
- The Far Thing
- Lahiri, Jhumpa
- Interpreter of Maladies (won Pulitzer Prize)
- The Namesake
- Lewis, Sharon
- Maharaj, Rabindranath
- Homer in Flight
- The Book of Ifs and Buts
- The Lagahoo’s Apprentice
- Makhijani, Pooja
- Under the Skin: How Girls Experience Race, ed. (memoir
essays) - essays in Cicada and an anthology
- picture book forthcoming spring 2006
- Under the Skin: How Girls Experience Race, ed. (memoir
- Malladi, Amulya
- A Breath of Fresh Air
- The Mango Season
- Serving Crazy with Curry (forthcoming)
- Mandava, Bhargavi, C.
- Where Oceans Meet
- Maniam, K.S.
- The Return
- In a Far Country
- Manji, Irshad
- The Trouble with Islam
- Matani, Shaily
- Mehta, Gita
- A River Sutra
- Karma Cola
- Raj
- Mehta, Suketu
- Mehta, Ved (recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur grants)
- All for Love (NY Times Notable Book)
- staff writer for The New Yorker
- Mishra, Pankaj
- The Romantics
- Mistry, Rohinton
- A Fine Balance
- Family Matters
- Such a Long Journey
- Swimming Lessons
- Mohanraj, Mary Anne
- Torn Shapes of Desire, Intangible Assets Publishing, 1997
(stories and poetry) - Aqua Erotica, ed., Melcher Media / Three Rivers Press,
2000 (waterproof book: erotica) - Wet, ed., Melcher Media / Three Rivers Press, 2002
(waterproof book: erotica) - Kathryn in the City, Melcher Media / Penguin, 2003
(choose-your-own-erotic-adventure) - The Classics Professor, Melcher Media / Penguin, 2003
(choose-your-own-erotic-adventure) - Silence and the Word, Lethe Press, 2004 (stories, poetry,
memoir) - A Taste of Serendib: A Sri Lankan Cookbook, Lethe Press
2003 - Bodies in Motion, HarperCollins July 2005 (a
novel-in-stories) - The Arrangement, forthcoming HarperCollins July 2006
(novel)
- Torn Shapes of Desire, Intangible Assets Publishing, 1997
- Mootoo, Shani
- Cereus Blooms at Night
- Mukherjee,
Bharati (1940 – )- The Tiger’s Daughter, 1972
- Wife, 1975
- Days and Nights in Calcutta, 1977 (nonfiction)
- Darkness, 1985 (short stories)
- The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting Legacy of the
Air India Tragedy, 1987 (nonfiction) - The Middleman and Other Stories, 1988 (short stories)
- Jasmine, 1989
- The Holder of the World, 1993
- Leave It to Me, 1997
- Desirable Daughters, 2002
- The Tree Bride, 2004
- Mukundan, M.
- Naipaul, V.S.
- A Way in the World
- many other books
- Nair, Meera (not the filmmaker)
- Nair, MT Vasudevan
- Narayan, Kirin
- Love, Stars and All That
- Narayan, R.K.
- Swami and Friends
- many more novels
- Narayan, Shoba
- Monsoon Diary
- Nigam, Sanjay
- Transplanted Man and Snake Charmer
- Nomani, Asra
- Standing Alone in Mecca
- Tantrika: Travelling the Road of Divine Love
- Ondaatje, Michael
- Running in the Family (nonfiction)
- In the Skin of a Lion
- Anil’s Ghost
- The English Patient (film)
- Parameswaran, Uma
- Parekh, Sameer
- Stealing the Ambassador
- Persaud, Sasenarine
- Piepzna-Samarasinha, Leah (performance poet)
- Consensual Genocide
- Pradhan, Monica
- The Hindi Bindi Club
- Prashad, Vijay
- Karma of Brown Folk
- Rahman, Imad
- I Dream of Microwaves (short stories)
- Rahman, Mahmud
- Killing the Water (forthcoming)
- Ramaya, Shona
- Monsoon Diary
- Rangel-Ribeiro, Victor (1925- ) (USA)
- Tivolem: Minneapolis: Milkweed, 1998. New Delhi: Penguin
India, 1998. (novel) - Loving Ayesha: New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2003. (short
stories)
- Tivolem: Minneapolis: Milkweed, 1998. New Delhi: Penguin
- Rehman, Bushra and Daisy Hernandez
- Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s
Feminism: Seal Press/Avalon Publishing Group, Inc., 2002
- Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s
- Roy, Arundhati
- The God of Small Things (Booker prize winner)
- Roy, Sandip
- pieces in varous anthologies such as Desilicious,
Contours of the Heart, Q & A, A Part Yet
Apart, Mobile Cultures
- pieces in varous anthologies such as Desilicious,
- Rushdie, Salman
- Midnight’s Children
- Haroun and the Sea of Stories
- The Moor’s Last Sigh
- The Satanic Verses
- East, West
- Imaginary Homelands
- Shame
- Sahgal, Nayantara
- Mistaken Identity
- Prison & Chocolate Cake
- Rich Like Us
- Storm in Chandigarh
- Sarvati, Sarita (nonfiction)
- Selvadurai, Shyam
- Funny Boy
- Cinnamon Gardens
- Seshadri, Vijay
- The Long Meadow (James Loughlin Award winner for poetry)
- Wild Kingdom (poetry)
- appeared in Agni, The New Yorker,
Paris Review, etc.
- Seth, Vikram
- A Suitable Boy
- The Golden Gate
- An Equal Music
- Shah, Bina
- Animal Medicine (Oxford University Press), 1999
- Where They Dream in Blue (Alhamra) 2000
- The 786 Cybercafe (Alhamra) 2004
- Shamsie,
Kamila- In the City by the Sea
- Salt and Saffron
- Shandas, Padma
- Spices in the Melting Pot — Life Stories of Exceptional South
Asian Immigrant Women
- Spices in the Melting Pot — Life Stories of Exceptional South
- Sharma, Akhil
- The Obedient Father
- Sheikh, Moazzam
- Sidhwa Bapsi
- Cracking India
- Singh, Roopa
- Singh, Shauna Baldwin
- What the Body Remembers
- Singh, Sonia
- Goddess
for Hire: HarperCollins
- Goddess
- Singh, Vandana
- Suleri, Sari
- Meatless Days (memoir of life in Pakistan)
- Boys Will Be Boys
- Sundaralingam, Pireeni
- Bridge Across the Blue (music and spoken word album of
diaspora history of American immigrants: www.wordandviolin.com) - Writing the Lines of our Hands (co-ed., first anthology
of South Asian-American poetry, forthcoming)
- Bridge Across the Blue (music and spoken word album of
- Sundaresan, Indu
- The Twentieth Wife
- The Feast of Roses
- Suri, Manil
- The Death of Vishnu
- Syal, Meera
- Anita and Me
- Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee
- Tharoor, Shashi
- The Great Indian Novel
- Riot
- Show Business
- Five Dollar Smile and Other Stories
- Umrigar, Thrity
- Bombay Time
- Upadhyay, Samrat
- The Guru of Love
- Arresting God in Kathmandu (stories)
- Vassanji, Moyez G.
- The In-between Life of Vikram Lall
- Vijayan, OV
- Wijenaike, Punyakante
- The Waiting Earth
- Amulet
- A Way of Life
- Zacharia, Paul
- Zaman, Bobby (playwright)
- De Souza, Eunice
- Babyji – Release February 2005 by Anchor (Knopf Group).