Samrat Upadhyay is the first Nepali-born fiction writer to be published in the West. He is the author of seven books of fiction that have been translated into French, Greek, Spanish, and Thai, among others. His books have won or have been finalists for major international awards, including the Whiting Award, the Asian American Literary Award, the Kiriyama Prize, the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and the Aspen Literary Prize. They have received praise from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. His story “The Limping Bride” is being made into the film “Perfect God,” directed by Khyentse Norbu. Upadhyay’s latest work is Darkmotherland, a dystopian novel in which a dictator rises to power in an earthquake-ravaged country, an epic tale with intertwining narratives of love and political violence that The New York Times calls “disturbing and wildly inventive.” Upadhyay has written for The New York Times and has appeared on BBC Radio and National Public Radio. He is a Distinguished Professor of English and Martha C. Kraft Professor of Humanities at Indiana University, where he teaches creative writing.
