Jhumpa Lahiri

Ruth Maxey (University of Nottingham)
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Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing – two volumes of short fiction and a novel to date – has met with remarkable success. Her literary début, the short fiction anthology,

Interpreter of Maladies

(1999), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000. This was an unusual win since it was for a first book, Lahiri was the first Asian American ever to receive the award, and it is relatively rare for the prize to be awarded for short fiction. Following

Interpreter

, which won other awards and sold very well, Lahiri’s novel,

The Namesake

(2003), and her second short story collection,

Unaccustomed Earth

(2008), have also combined critical acclaim with bestselling status: the latter was notable for instantly going to the top of the

New York Times

bestseller list.

On one level, Lahiri’s success can be

2885 words

Citation: Maxey, Ruth. "Jhumpa Lahiri". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12112, accessed 28 March 2024.]

12112 Jhumpa Lahiri 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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