Rajorshi Chakraborti
Encyclopedia
Rajorshi Chakraborti is an Indian novelist and academic. He was born in 1977 in Kolkata
, and grew up there and in Mumbai
. He attended the Lester B. Pearson United World College in Victoria, B.C., Canada, the University of Hull
where he was awarded the Philip Larkin
Prize, and the University of Edinburgh
where he completed his doctoral studies in African and Indian Literature. Chakraborti is the great grandson of the Bengali writer Hemendrakumar Roy
.
Chakraborti's first novel Or the Day Seizes You, (Penguin India), was shortlisted for the Hutch-Crossword Book Award in 2006. A Spanish translation entitled La Vida Que Nos Lleva was published in April 2009 by Ediciones Ambar. His second novel, Derangements was published by Harper Collins in August 2008.
The novel Derangements appeared in the US in July 2010 under the title Shadow Play, published by St Martin's Press (Minotaur Books). Chakraborti's third novel, Balloonists, was released in June 2010 in India, published by Westland Books.
He has also published reviews, short stories and essays in periodicals and anthologies including the Edinburgh Review; The Istanbul Review (forthcoming November 2011); Excess: The Tehelka Book of Stories (Hachette India: 2010); Why We Don't Talk (Rupa: 2010); Too Asian, Not Asian Enough (An Anthology of New British Asian Fiction) (Tindal Street Press: 2011), The Edinburgh Introduction to Studying English Literature (EUP: 2010), and The Popcorn Essayists: What Movies do to Writers (Westland: 2011).
Between 2007 and 2010, Chakraborti worked as a lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. He currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Chakraborti's latest novel, Mumbai Rollercoaster, is due to appear in India in November 2011, published by Hachette India.
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, and grew up there and in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. He attended the Lester B. Pearson United World College in Victoria, B.C., Canada, the University of Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
where he was awarded the Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...
Prize, and the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
where he completed his doctoral studies in African and Indian Literature. Chakraborti is the great grandson of the Bengali writer Hemendrakumar Roy
Hemendrakumar Roy
Hemendra Kumar Roy was a Bengali writer noted for his contribution to the early development of the genre of children's literature in the language. He is also the translator of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám into Bengali....
.
Chakraborti's first novel Or the Day Seizes You, (Penguin India), was shortlisted for the Hutch-Crossword Book Award in 2006. A Spanish translation entitled La Vida Que Nos Lleva was published in April 2009 by Ediciones Ambar. His second novel, Derangements was published by Harper Collins in August 2008.
The novel Derangements appeared in the US in July 2010 under the title Shadow Play, published by St Martin's Press (Minotaur Books). Chakraborti's third novel, Balloonists, was released in June 2010 in India, published by Westland Books.
He has also published reviews, short stories and essays in periodicals and anthologies including the Edinburgh Review; The Istanbul Review (forthcoming November 2011); Excess: The Tehelka Book of Stories (Hachette India: 2010); Why We Don't Talk (Rupa: 2010); Too Asian, Not Asian Enough (An Anthology of New British Asian Fiction) (Tindal Street Press: 2011), The Edinburgh Introduction to Studying English Literature (EUP: 2010), and The Popcorn Essayists: What Movies do to Writers (Westland: 2011).
Between 2007 and 2010, Chakraborti worked as a lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. He currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Chakraborti's latest novel, Mumbai Rollercoaster, is due to appear in India in November 2011, published by Hachette India.