Creative Writing Institute Welcomes Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri

On 5 December, Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri gave a reading from her latest novel The Lowland to a full house at John Cabot University.

Born in London, Ms. Lahiri moved to Rhode Island as a young child with her Bengali parents. Her abilities to convey cultural conflicts in the most immediate fashion and to achieve the voices of many different characters are among the unique qualities that have captured the attention of a wide audience. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her debut story collection Interpreter of Maladies.

Reading a brief passage from each of three different moments of the The Lowland, Ms Lahiri succeeded in transmitting the passion and pain of the individual, intertwined journeys through life of the main characters of the novel.

Without divulging the essential outcomes in the story, Lahiri gave a reading that allowed even the spectator who had not yet read the novel to experience a bit of the drama of this family whose travels extend from India to the U.S. and back.

Following the reading, and before a book-signing opportunity, Ms Lahiri responded to questions from the audience. She shared her approach to writing and life as a writer as well as her attitude toward language, learning new languages and writing in a second or third language.

Ms. Lahiri explained that she has lived in Rome for nearly two years now, an experience that has very much influenced her and led to a new phase in her writing. When asked about her future projects, Ms Lahiri revealed plans for three new books, including one written in Italian, a language that the author says has given her a new voice and another dimension.

John Cabot University is honored to have had the pleasure of Ms Lahiri’s talent at this reading for the Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation as well as within the context of JCU’s Italy Reads English language reading and cultural exchange program which has selected her novel The Namesake for the 2013-2014 academic year.