Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1890–1936) is the first fiction writer of Indian origin to achieve recognition in the United States. His works have been the subject of some renewed interest from the 1980s onwards as they present vivid descriptions of the early South Asian experience in America. He received the Newbery Medal in 1928 from the American Library Association for the best American children’s book of the year.
It may be said that Mukerji is the first Asian American novelist in the United States – certainly his novels represent the beginnings of South Asian adolescent fiction in North America. Often incorrectly classified in libraries among Anglo-Indian fiction writers of the early twentieth century, Mukerji spent a significant portion of his adult life in America although he wrote
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Citation: Wong, Mitali. "Dhan Gopal Mukerji". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 November 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3245, accessed 25 November 2024.]