Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Divakaruni's works are largely set in India and the United States, and often focus on the experiences of South Asian immigrants. She writes for children as well as adults, and has published novels in multiple genres, including realistic fiction, historical fiction, magical realism, myth and fantasy.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni studied at University of Calcutta, University of California, Berkeley and Wright State University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is essay. Employment is recorded with University of Houston. Works named in the authority record are The Mistress of Spices.

• Name — Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni • Birth Name — Chitralekha Banerjee • Born — 1956 • Birthplace — Calcutta, West Bengal, India • Occupation — Writer • Education — University of Calcutta (BA) Wright State University University of California, Berkeley (PhD) • Genre — Poetry, short stories, novels; fantasy, young adult, magical realism, historical fiction • Notable Works — Arranged Marriage: Stories The Mistress of Spices Sister of My Heart The Palace of Illusions One Amazing Thing The Conch Bearer The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming Independence • Awards — American Book Award PEN Josephine Miles Literary Award • Website — www.chitradivakaruni.com • Spouse — Murthy • Children — 2

Divakaruni was born in Calcutta, India. She received her B.A. from the University of Calcutta in 1976. In the same year, she went to the United States to attend Wright State University, where she received a master's degree. She received a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 (Christopher Marlowe was the subject of her doctoral dissertation).

Divakaruni put herself through graduate school by taking on odd jobs, working as a babysitter, a store clerk, a bread slicer in a bakery, a laboratory assistant at Wright State University, and a dining hall attendant at International House, Berkeley. She was a graduate teaching assistant at U.C. Berkeley. She taught in California at Foothill College and Diablo Valley College. She now lives and teaches in Texas, where she is the McDavid Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Divakaruni is the co-founder and former president of Maitri, a helpline founded in 1991 in San Francisco for South Asian women dealing with domestic abuse. Divakaruni is on its advisory board and on the advisory board of Daya, a similar service in Houston. She has served on the board of Pratham Houston, an organisation working to bring literacy to disadvantaged Indian children, and is on their emeritus board.

Divakaruni began her writing career as a poet. Her volumes of poetry include Black Candle and Leaving Yuba City. Her first collection of stories, Arranged Marriage, won an American Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, and a Bay Area Book Reviewers Award. Her major novels include The Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Queen of Dreams, One Amazing Thing, Palace of Illusions, Oleander Girl and Before We Visit the Goddess. She has also written a young adult fantasy series called The Brotherhood of the Conch which is set in India and draws on the culture and folklore of that region. The first book of the series, The Conch Bearer was nominated for the 2003 Bluebonnet Award. The second book of the series, The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming came out in 2005 and the third and final book of the series, Shadowland, was published in 2009. Divakaruni's novel The Palace of Illusions was a national best-seller for over a year in India and is a re-telling of the Indian epic The Mahabharata from Draupadi's perspective. Divakaruni's work has been published in The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, and her writing has been included in anthologies including the Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize Stories, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. Her fiction has been translated into 29 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Indonesian, Bengali, Turkish and Japanese.

• Arranged Marriage: Stories (1995) • The Mistress of Spices (1997) • Sister of My Heart (1999) • The Unknown Errors of our Lives (2001) • The Vine of Desire (2002) • Queen of Dreams (2004) • The Lives of Strangers (2007) • The Palace of Illusions: A Novel (2008) • One Amazing Thing (2010) • Oleander Girl (2013) • Before We Visit the Goddess (2016) • The Forest of Enchantments (2019) • The Last Queen (2021) • Independence (2023)

• Neela: Victory Song (2002) • Grandma and the Great Gourd (2013) (children's picture book)

• The Conch Bearer (2003) • The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005) • Shadowland (2009)

• "Dark like the River", 1987. • The Reason for Nasturtiums, Berkeley (Berkeley Poets Workshop) 1990. • Black Candle. Poems About Women from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Corvallis (Calyx Books) 1991. • Leaving Yuba City, St. Louis (Turtleback Books) 1997.

• Multitude: Cross Cultural Readings for Writers (1993) • We Too Sing America (1997) • California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century (2004)

Divakaruni lives in Houston with her husband, Murthy. She has two sons.