Anjum Hasan

Anjum Hasan is an Indian novelist, short story writer, poet, and editor. She was born in 1972 [1] in Shillong, Meghalaya and currently lives in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Anjum Hasan
Born	Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Occupation	Books editor, Caravan magazine
Website
www.anjumhasan.com

Career

Anjum Hasan's first book was the collection of poems Street on the Hill, published by Sahitya Akademi in 2006.[2][3][4] The book appeared in Norwegian translation as Gata på toppen av en ås as in 2011 from Margbok (translated by Lene E. Westerås).[5]

Her debut novel Lunatic in my Head (Zubaan-Penguin, 2007) was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award 2007.[6] Set in Shillong, a picturesque hill-station in north-east India, in the early 1990s, the novel weaves together the stories of its three main characters, ranging from an IAS aspirant who is obsessed with Pink Floyd to a college teacher struggling to complete her PhD and longing to find love. The novel has been described by Siddhartha Deb as 'haunting and lyrical' and as acquiring a 'lyrical intensity'.[7]

Her second novel titled Neti, Neti (Roli Books, 2009) was longlisted for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize and shortlisted for The Hindu Best Fiction Award in 2010. It told the story of a twenty-five-year old Sophie Das, a dreamy character from Shillong, looking for fulfilment in boom town Bangalore. According to the reviews "Neti, Neti paints an empathetic portrait of the unusually liberated—and unexpectedly lost—middle-class youth of the brave new India."[8] and ““Hasan’s writing is full of warm humour... Blurbs will struggle to capture her subversivesness.”[9]

Her short-story collection, Difficult Pleasures (Penguin/Viking 2012), was shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize[10] and the Crossword Book Award.[11] Lunatic in my Head, Neti, Neti (as Big Girl Now) and Difficult Pleasures have all appeared in Australia from Brass Monkey Books.[12][13][14]

Her third novel The Cosmopolitans appeared from Penguin Books India in 2015 and from Brio Books Australia in 2016.[15] Reviews said “Fiercely intelligent”,[16] “an author at the peak of her powers”[17] and “That rare thing: a novel of ideas”[18]

She has also contributed poems, articles and short stories to various national and international publications.[19]

She is currently Books Editor for The Caravan.[20]

See also

• Indian literature
• Indian English Literature
• Literature from North East India
• Indian literature

References

1. Souza, Eunice de (15 October 2012). These My Words: The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry. ISBN 9788184757934.
2. Review of Street on the Hill in The Hindu Literary Review
3. "Review of Street on the Hill in Tehelka" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2016.
4. "Up and down the hill". The Hindu. 11 July 2006. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
5. "Gata på toppen av en ås av Anjum Hasan".
6. "Lunatic in my head on Crossword Book Award shortlist".
7. "Jabberwock: Anjum Hasan, Shillong and Lunatic in my Head". 23 December 2007.
8. "Review of Neti Neti in Outlook".
9. "Review of Neti Neti in Tehelka".
10. Staff writer (17 February 2013). "The Hindu Literary Prize goes to Jerry Pinto". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
11. "Difficult Pleasures on Crossword shortlist".
12. Hasan, Anjum (2010). Lunatic in my Head from Brass Monkey Books. ISBN 9780980740516.
13. Hasan, Anjum (2010). Big Girl Now from Brass Monkey Books. ISBN 9780980740561.
14. "Review of Australian edition of Difficult Pleasures".
15. "Brio Books".
16. "India Express Review of The Cosmopolitans". 15 August 2015.
17. "Mint Lounge Review of The Cosmopolitans". 24 August 2015.
18. "India Today review of The Cosmopolitans".
19. Anjum Hasan's website
20. The Caravan