logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2013
52m 58s

Jhumpa Lahiri

Bbc World Service
About this episode

This month a chance to hear Pulitzer Prize winning Indian American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, whose new novel The Lowland has just been shortlisted for the British Man Booker Prize.

With presenter Harriett Gilbert and a studio full of readers Lahiri talks about her acclaimed short story collection Unaccustomed Earth, whose eight tales consider the lives of Indian American characters and how they deal with their mixed cultural environment.

Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, the book explores how family life and relationships are affected by the uprootings and resettlings of the Bengali immigrant experience.

Picture: Jhumpa Lahiri. Credit: Marco Delogu.

Up next
Jul 5
Graeme Macrae Burnet
On this episode of ‘World Book Club’ Harriett Gilbert speaker with with Graeme Macrae Burnet about his riveting historical crime novel ‘His Bloody Project’ Set in a remote Scottish community in the 1800s, the story centres on a brutal triple murder and the person who admits guilt ... Show More
49m 20s
Jun 7
N.K Jemisin
In this episode of World Book Club, Harriet talks with one of the world’s best-loved sci-fi and fantasy authors, the four time Hugo award winner N.K Jemisin. Which of her plethora of books did we choose? Her 10th novel, and love letter to New York, ‘The City We Became’.The story ... Show More
55m 43s
May 3
Abdulrazak Gurnah: Paradise
Harriett Gilbert talks with Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah about his hauntingly beautiful novel Paradise.It tells the story of Yusuf, a 12 year-old boy living in East Africa at the beginning of the 20th Century. Sold off to settle his father’s debts, Yusuf embarks on a journey ... Show More
49m 26s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2021
The British Academy Book Prize 2021
Racial injustice in USA; ghost towns in post-industrial Scotland; how maritime history looks from the viewpoint of Aboriginal Australians and Parsis, Mauritians and Malays; the roots of violence that has plagued postcolonial society. These are topics covered in the books shortlis ... Show More
45m 2s
Oct 2019
Joy Harjo: An American Sunrise
The first Native American to be named United States Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo discusses her tumultuous life, her career as an award-winning poet and her newest book of poetry, “An American Sunrise.” Joy also talks about reparations, universal connection, her native ancestors and o ... Show More
40m 27s
Dec 2018
Ayana Mathis: “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie”
New York Times best-selling author Ayana Mathis discusses her sweeping debut novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.” The book tells the story of the children of the Great Migration through the trials of one indomitable heroine, Hattie Shepherd, and her unforgettable family. Ayana s ... Show More
29m 49s
Feb 2022
The Book of Baraka
“When I become mayor, we become mayor.” Ras Baraka’s famous words speak to exactly who he is as a leader - a fiercely loyal member of his community. In this innovative and ground-breaking Audible Original, hear how Baraka - the mayor of Newark, New Jersey - grew from spoken-word ... Show More
1h 43m
Feb 2021
Écrire sur soi
Les romanciers refont l’histoire des origines de l’humanité à nos jours dans La Grande Librairie. François Busnel reçoit :Chantal Thomas qui poursuit son voyage dans la mémoire et célèbre la beauté, le silence, et l’amour entre une fille et son père : De sable et de neige (Le Mer ... Show More
1h 30m
Dec 2018
Samira Ahmed on Laura Ingalls Wilder
In the summer of 2018, the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder was erased from a children's literary medal set up in her honour six decades ago. Readers of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series of books were widely perplexed, but the original American pioneer girl now finds herself a ... Show More
30m 4s
Sep 2023
Leïla Slimani
French Moroccan author Leïla Slimani won critical acclaim and a reputation as an author of bold & brutal fiction with her first two novels. Adele is about a bourgeoise Parisian wife and mother who lives a sexually promiscuous secret life. In Lullaby, a nanny kills the children sh ... Show More
43m 49s
Nov 2020
David Mitchell, novelist
David Mitchell has published eight novels, two of which – number9dream and Cloud Atlas – have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He has also translated two books on autism from Japanese, working with his Japanese wife: their son is on the autistic spectrum. While his work als ... Show More
36m 58s