NEH Institute 2008

Appendix A7c: Samrat Upadhyay: Modern Nepalese Writer
read for NEH 2008

Samrat Upadhyay is the first Nepali-born fiction writer writing in English to be published in the West. His first book, the short story collection ARRESTING GOD IN KATHMANDU (Houghton Mifflin, 2000; Houghton Mifflin Mariner Books paperback, 2001) has been translated into French and Greek and was the recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award, given annually by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation to emerging poets and fiction writers who display "exceptional talent and promise." ARRESTING GOD IN KATHMANDU was also a selection in the Fall 2001 Barnes & Noble Great Writers Program. Upadhyay's stories have been read live on National Public Radio and published widely as well as in SCRIBNER'S BEST OF THE WRITING WORKSHOPS, edited by Sherman Alexie, and BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 1999, edited by Amy Tan.
Upadhyay's second book, the novel THE GURU OF LOVE, was published in January 2003 by Houghton Mifflin and given starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and The Library Journal and named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year 2003 and a finalist for the 2004 Kiriyama Prize, which is awarded in "recognition of outstanding books that promote greater understanding of and cooperation among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia." THE GURU OF LOVE was released in paperback by Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin in 2004. Upadhyay has also co-edited the anthology SECRET PLACES: NEW WRITING FROM NEPAL (University of Hawai'i Press), published in Winter 2001 as a special issue of Manoa magazine.
Upadyhyay's recent story collection, THE ROYAL GHOSTS (Houghton Mifflin), has been called "stories of breathtaking lucidity" by Booklist. The Los Angeles Times marks him as "among the smoothest and most noiseless of contemporary writers," and The Indiana Express calls the book "highly entertaining" and Upadhyay "a major writer-in-the-making."

The Guru of Love
From the acclaimed author of Arresting God in Kathmandu, The Guru of Love is the engrossing story of a fevered love triangle set in contemporary Nepal. Ramchandra, a quiet math teacher, reluctantly enters into an adulterous relationship, and soon his double lives disastrously converge. When Goma, his wife by arranged marriage, learns of his affair, she demands that his mistress move into their small quarters. Unable to dissuade her, Ramchandra finds his desires and fears living side by side. Goma proves to be far shrewder than she seems, entering into a surprising alliance with his mistress. And Ramchandra finds himself trapped -- both in his house and in his city, Kathmandu, a crowded place where secrets are impossible to keep and family matters dictate. Ultimately, his only escape is to let go of someone he loves. Absorbing, sexy, and psychologically acute, The Guru of Love radiates compassion and rare insight.

The Royal Ghosts: Stories
The Royal Ghosts features characters trying to reconcile their true desires with the forces at work in Nepali society. Against the backdrop of the violent Maoist insurgencies that have claimed thousand lives, these characters struggle with their duties to their aging parents, an oppressive caste system, and the complexities of arranged marriage. In the end, they manage to fine peace and connection, often where they least expect it -- with the people directly in front of them. These stories brilliantly examine not only Kathmandu during a time of political crisis and cultural transformation but also the effects of that city on the individual consciousness.
"Like Willam Trevor, Samrat Upadhyay compresses into a short story the breadth of vision and human consequence we expect of a novel, and he does so in a prose that seems as natural as breathing. If there were an author of the universe who bestowed on us the tender regard that Upadhyay bestows on hi struggling people, we would be blessed indeed."
-- Scott Tussell Sandres, author of A Private History of Awe
"Elegant, rich, and pleasing, the stories of the The Roayl Ghosts will haunt readers long after the book is finished. These are tales of both the individual and the society, conveying a measured, transcendental gaze at the nature of the world."
-- Diana Abu-Jaber, Author of The Language of Baklava

Arresting God in Kathmandu
From the first Nepali author writing in English to be published in the West, Arresting God in Kathmandu brilliantly explores the nature of desire and spirituality in a changing society. With the assurance and unsentimental wisdom of a long-established writer, Upadhyay records the echoes of modernization throughout love and family. Here are husbands and wives bound together by arranged marriages but sometimes driven elsewhere by an intense desire for connection and transcendence. In a city where gods are omnipresent, where privacy is elusive and family defines identity, these men and women find themselves at the mercy of their desires but at the will of their society. Psychologically rich and astonishingly acute, Arresting God in Kathmandu introduces a potent new voice in contemporary fiction.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org/Samrat Upandhyay/

This site was created by Benyonne Schwortz at the NEH Summer Institute "Literatures, Religions, and Arts of the Himalayan Region," held at the College of the Holy Cross, Summer 2008.