India

Every year, Litro publishes international editions focusing on different parts of the globe…

For this World Series edition, we turn our pages over to India, or rather away from India: to the Indian diaspora. Every year for thirteen years now, India has held its grand Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – Expatriate Indians’ Day – when expatriate Indians can celebrate their connection to their motherland. Guest-edited by Shashi Tharoor, this issue of Litro is filled with stories and essays by writers dislocated from their national and cultural moorings, exploring aspects of the expatriate experience.

  • Shashi Tharoor

    Shashi Tharoor

    Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician and former diplomat, has published 15 bestselling works on India covering its history, culture, film, society, foreign policy and more. His monthly column, India Reawakening, appears in 80 newspapers worldwide. He is also a passionate lecturer and speaker – globally recognized for his contributions on current issues in India.

  • William Dalrymple

    William Dalrymple

    William Dalrymple, Scottish writer, curator and historian, regularly publishes essays and books regarding the history of South Asia and the Middle East. Influenced by travel writers such as Byron and Newby, he has also written on his personal journeys in India and Central Asia.

  • Aatish Taser

    Aatish Taser

    Aatish Taser has worked as a reporter for Times Magazine and has written for the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, the Financial Times, Prospect, TAR Magazine and Esquire. He is the author of Stranger to History: a Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands. His novel, The Temple-Goers (2010) was shortlisted by Picador (UK) and Faber & Faber (USA). His work has been translated into over ten languages.

  • Abha Iyengar

    Abha Iyengar

    Abha Iyengar is an internationally published freelance writer and poet. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, magazines and literary journals, both in print and online. She is a Kota Press Poetry Anthology contest winner. Her story, ‘The High Stool’ was nominated for the Story South Million Writers Award. She has won several literary contests. She is a member of The Poetry Society of India and ‘Riyaz’ Writer’s Group at The British Council, New Delhi. Abha is a social activist who is against all forms of aggression and injustice.

  • Abraham Verghese

    Abraham Verghese

    Abraham Verghese, a physician-author who is well known for his 2009 novel, Cutting for Stonewhich landed as #2 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction list in 2011. His first book My Own Country was based on his own personal transformation through his work as a doctor. He has now written a total of three best-selling books.

  • Nikesh Shukla

    Nikesh Shukla

    Nikesh Shukla is a writer of fiction and television and host of the Subaltern podcast. His debut novel, Coconut Unlimited, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2010 and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2011. Meatspace is his second novel.

  • Shehan Karunatilaka

    Shehan Karunatilaka

    Shehan Karunatilaka, a Sri Lankan writer who currently resides in Singapore is best known for his novel, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Matthew which tells the story of an alcoholic journalist to trying to track down a missing cricketer in the 1980s. Karunatilaka is also a musician and plays bass for Sri Lankan bands.

  • Divya Ghelani

    Divya Ghelani

    Writer Divya Ghelani, who published her work in The Times and The Bookseller, is currently adapting her historical story, The Imperial Typewriter, into a short film. She is currently working on her debut novel, RUNAWAY.

  • Mona Arshi

    Mona Arshi

    Mona Arshi is an emerging poet whose debut Small Hands (Liverpool University Press, 2015) won the Forward Prize for best first poetry collection. Her poems often tackle topics of grief, humour and self-awareness, while others draw on cases she worked on as a lawyer.

  • Amarjit Chandan

    Amarjit Chandan

    Amarjit Chandan is Punjabi poet and essayist. He writes a variety of world poetry and fiction, often invoking the theme of place in his writing. He often writes about his hometown in the Punjab, Nakoda. Amarjit has been awarded several lifetime achievement awards for his poetry by both the Punjab government and the Punjab community in Britain.

  • Vivek Santhosh

    Vivek Santhosh

    Vivek Santhosh is a writer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was raised in India and Oman. An engineer by profession, he lived in Atlanta and Boston before moving west to Silicon Valley. When not writing or traveling, he enjoys reading and playing Ultimate Frisbee.