I recommend the humble check mark. I’m here to reclaim the check mark in its basic form, etched by a human hand using ink or graphite.
Posts By: Amitava Kumar
Book Trailer
We now have a book trailer for the new novel. Out on Oct 5, 2021 from Knopf.
February, Delhi
February 23 is the first anniversary of the Delhi riots. When making this painting I was thinking of Bashir Badr’s lines: ‘Log toot jaate hain ek ghar banana mein / Tum taras nahin khaate bastiyan jalaane mein.’ (People go broke in building a home / And you remain unmoved as you burn down whole neighborhoods.)… Read more »
Coming in October: Please pre-order!
About A Time Outside This Time From the acclaimed author of Immigrant, Montana, a one-of-a-kind novel about fake news, memory, and the ways in which truth gives over to fiction. When a writer named Satya attends a prestigious artist retreat, he finds the pressures of the outside world won’t let up: President Trump rages online;… Read more »
Shadow/Yaddo
Thanks to Yaddo, I was in conversation with Pulitzer-winner Ayad Akhtar. Listen once, listen twice.
Nonfiction Dialogue
Columbia University, Wednesday, Nov 11, 7.30 PM. Register here. About the Nonfiction Dialogues The Nonfiction Dialogues is a student-initiated evening series in which Professor and Writing Program Chair Lis Harris interviews distinguished nonfiction writers about their work and careers. Recent guests have included Eula Biss, Alexander Chee, John D’Agata, Ian Frazier, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, and Mary Roach.
Rules Of The Jungle Have Changed
A journalist for The Caravan was beaten by the police in North Delhi. I wrote about life imitating art imitating life: I read in a report that a journalist named Ahan Penkar at The Caravan magazine was beaten at a police station in north Delhi on 16 October. Penkar was covering a protest concerning the alleged rape and… Read more »
Prime Time with Ravish
It was a great pleasure for me to speak in Hindi—and Bhojpuri—to Ravish on NDTV’s Prime Time about teaching in the time of corona. You can watch the interview on YouTube.
#WritingAdvice
I have a piece in the New York Times Book Review where I ask writers to offer pithy advice about writing: I suspect writers are more likely than, say, firefighters or doctors or second basemen to seek professional advice from those they admire. This is because writing is regarded as a magical act, its mysteries… Read more »
George Saunders
Here’s a link to the video on YouTube for the conversation between George Saunders and me for JLF Litfest’s “Brave New World” series.