|
| |
CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning
author and poet. She was born in
India
and lived there until 1976, at
which point she came to the
United States
. She continued her education in the field of English by receiving a Master's
degree from
Wright
State
University
in
Dayton
,
Ohio
, and a Ph.D. from the
University
of
California
at
Berkeley
. She lives in Sunnydale with her
husband and two children while teaching creative writing at
Foothill
College
in
Los Altos Hills
,
CA
. Since 1991, she has been the president of MAITRI, a helpline for South Asian
women that particularly helps victims of domestic violence and other abusive
situations. Much of Divakaruni's work is partially autobiographical. Not only
are most of her stories set in the Bay Area of California, but she also deals
with the immigrant experience. Divakaruni's writing centers around the lives of
immigrant women, in love, in difficulties, in relationships. Her interest in
women began after she left
India
, at which point she reevaluated the treatment of women there. Starting MAITRI
with a group of friends, led her to write Arranged Marriage, a collection
of short stories, that includes stories about the abuse and courage of immigrant
women. In Arranged Marriage,
Divakaruni beautifully tells stories about immigrant brides who are "both
liberated and trapped by cultural changes" and who are struggling to carve
out an identity of their own. Divakaruni
deals with a variety of issues in the book, including racism, interracial
relationships, economic disparity, abortion, and divorce. In The Mistress of
Spices, the character Tilo provides spices, not only for cooking, but also
for the homesickness and alienation that the Indian immigrants in her shop
experience. She writes to unite people, and she does this by destroying myths
and stereotypes. The Mistress of Spices is unique in that it is written
with a blend of prose and poetry, and is currently being made into a movie.
Divakaruni's new novel is entitled Sister of
My Heart. Before she began her career in fiction-writing, Divakaruni was an
acclaimed poet. She writes poems encompassing a wide variety of themes, and she
once again directs much focus to the immigrant experience and to South Asian
women.
Return to
Stories
|
