This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Sindya Bhanoo, author of the award-winning short story collection, Seeking Fortune Elsewhere (Catapult). In this tightly-written collection, Sindya explores dislocation and dissonance: South Indian immigrants and their families reckon with the costs of leaving and staying. Seeking Fortune Elsewhere centers women, specifically, and asks how women might both claim and surrender power. How does one live with what is missing?
This conversation was recorded in partnership with the 2023 Montana Book Festival, where Sindya appeared as a participating author.
About Sindya:
Sindya Bhanoo’s fiction has appeared in Granta, New England Review, Glimmer Train, and other publications. She is the recipient of an O. Henry Award, the DISQUIET Prize, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant and scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee writers’ conferences. A longtime newspaper reporter, she has worked for The New York Times and The Washington Post. She is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and Carnegie Mellon University. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon, and teaches at Oregon State University.
Sindya Bhanoo recommends:
<i>The Magical Language of Others</i> by E. J. Koh (Tin House Books)
<i>People From Bloomington</i> by Budi Darma (Penguin Random House)
<i>Peacocks of Instagram</i> by Deepa Rajagopalan (Astoria)
<i>A History of Burning</i> by Janika Oza (Grand Central Publishing)
<i>Cowboys and East Indians</i> by Nina McConigley (Curtis Brown Unlimited)
Lauren Korn recommends:
<i>Seeking Fortune Elsewhere</i> by Sindya Bhanoo (Catapult)
<i>The Berry Pickers</i> by Amanda Peters (Catapult)
<i>The Magical Language of Others</i> and <i>The Liberators</i> by E. J. Koh (Tin House Books)
<i>Wednesday’s Child</i> and <i>The Book of Goose</i> by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
<i>Roman Stories</i> by Jhumpa Lahiri (Alfred A. Knopf)
—
The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Jake Birch, co-producer and editor; and Aidan McMahan, sound engineer. This episode was supported by Fact & Fiction, an independent bookstore located in the heart of downtown Missoula, Montana, providing books for all ages and supporting the literary community in Montana and beyond. More information can be found at factandfictionbooks.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss. Our music was written and recorded by John Floridis.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
