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	==See also==		==See also==
	~~{{Portal\|Literature}}~~
	* [[List of Indian Americans]]		* [[List of Indian Americans]]
	* [[Indian English literature]]		* [[Indian English literature]]

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			{{short description\|American novelist}}

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{{Infobox writer 
| image = ChitraBanerjeeDivakaruni.JPG 
| imagesize = 220px
| name = Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Chitralekha Banerjee
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|7|29|df=y}}<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3416300043/divakaruni-chitra-banerjee-1956.html {{Bare URL inline|date=December 2021}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer
| nationality = [[Indian-American]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]<br />[[Wright State University]]<br />[[University of California, Berkeley]]
| period =
| genre = Poetry, short stories, novels; fantasy, young adult, magical realism, historical fiction
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = ''[[Mistress of Spices]]''
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
| website = {{URL|www.chitradivakaruni.com}}
| spouse = Murthy
| children = Abhay, Anand
}}

'''Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni''' (born '''Chitralekha Banerjee''', July 29, 1956<ref>{{cite book |title= Asian American Short Story Writers: An A-to-Z Guide|last= Davis|first= Rocío G.|editor1-first= Guiyou|editor1-last= Huang|year= 2003|publisher= Greenwood Press|location= Westport, CT|isbn= 978-0-313-32229-7|page= 65 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=skdEeK1SEAQC&q=Chitra+Banerjee+Divakaruni+1956&pg=PP1|chapter= Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (1956– )|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=skdEeK1SEAQC&q=Chitra+Banerjee+Divakaruni+1956&pg=PA65|access-date= 2 June 2010}}</ref>) is an [[Indian-American]] author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the [[University of Houston]] Creative Writing Program.

Her short story collection, ''Arranged Marriage'' won an [[American Book Award]] in 1996,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.beforecolumbusfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Aba2001prior.pdf|title=Previous Winners of the American Book Award|website=beforecolumbusfoundation.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> and two of her novels (''[[Mistress of Spices|The Mistress of Spices]]'' and ''[[Sister of My Heart (novel)|Sister of My Heart]]''), as well as a short story ''The Word Love'' were adapted into films. ''[[Mistress of Spices]]'' was short-listed for the [[Orange Prize]]. Currently, ''Sister of My Heart,'' ''Oleander Girl,'' ''[[The Palace of Illusions: A Novel|Palace of Illusions]],'' and ''One Amazing Thing'' have all been optioned to be made into movies or TV serials.

Divakaruni's works are largely set in India and the United States, and often focus on the experiences of [[South Asian]] immigrants. She writes for children as well as adults, and has published novels in multiple [[genres]], including [[realistic fiction]], historical fiction, [[magical realism]], myth and [[fantasy]].

==Life==
Divakaruni was born in [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta), India. She received her B.A. from the [[University of Calcutta]] in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biography.jrank.org/pages/4269/Divakaruni-Chitra-Banerjee.html|title=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Biography|website=biography.jrank.org|language=en|access-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> In the same year, she went to the United States to attend [[Wright State University]], where she received a master's degree.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51589.Chitra_Banerjee_Divakaruni|title=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> She received a PhD in English from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1985 ([[Christopher Marlowe]] was the subject of her doctoral dissertation).<ref>{{Cite thesis|author=Chitralekha Divakaruni|url=http://oskicat.berkeley.edu/record=b13348453~S53|title=For danger is in words : changing attitudes to language in the plays of Christopher Marlowe|website=OskiCat - UC Berkeley Library Catalog|date=December 1984|access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref>

Divakaruni lives in Houston with her husband, Murthy. She has two sons, Anand and Abhay (whose names she has used in her children's novels).<ref>[http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/about/bio/ See author's Bio on her webpage]</ref>

==Career==
Divakaruni put herself through graduate school by taking on odd jobs, working as a babysitter, a store clerk, a bread slicer in a bakery, a laboratory assistant at [[Wright State University]], and a dining hall attendant at [[International House, Berkeley]]. She was a graduate teaching assistant at U.C. Berkeley. She taught at [[Foothill College]] in [[Los Altos, California|Los Altos]], California and [[Diablo Valley College]]. She now lives and teaches in [[Texas]], where she is the McDavid professor of Creative Writing at the nationally ranked University of Houston Creative Writing Program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uh.edu/class/news/archive/2019/october/department-english-creative-writing-program-professor-honored-among-houston-finest-authors/|title=Department of English Creative Writing Program Professor Honored Among Houston's Finest Authors|date=2019-10-01|website=University of Houston – College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences – uh.edu|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

Divakaruni is the co-founder and former president of Maitri, a helpline founded in 1991 for [[South Asian]] women dealing with [[domestic abuse]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.weber.edu/weberjournal/Journal_Archives/Archive_C2/Vol_18_2/CDivakaruniConv.html|title=Writing As Spiritual Experience: A Conversation with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|last=Seshachari|first=Neila C.|date=Winter 2001|website=Weber Journal Archive|access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> Divakaruni serves on its advisory board and on the advisory board of a similar organisation in Houston, Daya. She has served on the board of Pratham Houston, a non-profit organisation working to bring literacy to disadvantaged Indian children for many years, and is presently on their emeritus board.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Agarwal|first=Dr. Gunjan and Gunjan Kapil|date=December 2014|title=The Representation of Woman in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's ''Doors, Affair'', and ''Meeting Mrinal''|url=http://www.the-criterion.com/V5/n6/GunjanKapil.pdf|journal=The Criterion|volume=5| issue = 6|pages=77}}</ref>

==Works==

===Fiction and poetry===
Divakaruni's work has been published in over 50 magazines, including ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''[[The New Yorker]]'', and her writing has been included in over 50 anthologies including the ''[[Best American Short Stories]]'', the ''[[O. Henry Award|O. Henry Prize Stories]]'', and the [[Pushcart Prize]] anthology. Her fiction has been translated into 29 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew, Indonesian, Bengali, Turkish and Japanese.

Divakaruni began her writing career as a poet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/i-see-my-writing-as-an-extension-of-my-activism-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/story-mHVEc6mZRTksdTABF03PnN.html|title=I see my writing as an extension of my activism: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|last=Banerjee|first=Kaushani|date=2017-04-11|website=hindustantimes.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> Her two latest volumes of poetry are ''Black Candle'' and ''Leaving Yuba City''. She has won several awards for her poems, such as a [[Gerbode Award]], a [[Barbara Deming Memorial Award]] and an [[Allen Ginsberg Award]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/chitra-banerjee-divakaruni|title=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|website=poetryfoundation.org|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

Divakaruni's first collection of stories ''Arranged Marriage'' won an [[American Book Award]], a PEN Josephine Miles Award, and a Bay Area Book Reviewers Award.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}. Her major novels include ''The [[Mistress of Spices]]'', ''[[Sister of My Heart (novel)|Sister of My Heart]]'', ''Queen of Dreams'', ''One Amazing Thing'', ''[[The Palace of Illusions: A Novel|Palace of Illusions]]'', ''Oleander Girl'' and ''Before We Visit the Goddess''. Although most of her novels are written for adults, she has also written a young adult fantasy series called [[The Brotherhood of the Conch]] which, unlike many of her adult novels, takes place wholly in India and draws on the culture and folklore of that region. The first book of the series, ''The Conch Bearer'' was nominated for the 2003 Bluebonnet Award. It was listed in the Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, Booklist Editor's Choice, Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award Master List and the Rebecca Caudill Award Master List.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rebeccacaudill.org/images/CaudillCumulativeList.pdf|title=Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Cumulative List 1988–2019|date=2018-03-23|website=rebeccacaudill.org|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> The second book of the series, ''The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming'' came out in 2005 and the third and final book of the series, ''Shadowland'', was published in 2009.

Divakaruni's novel ''The Palace of Illusions'', was a national best-seller for over a year in India and<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.indiareads.com/views-and-reviews/palace-of-illusions-by-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-02-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215125833/http://blogs.indiareads.com/views-and-reviews/palace-of-illusions-by-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni/ |archive-date=15 February 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> is a re-telling of the [[Indian epic poetry|Indian epic]] ''The [[Mahabharata]]'' from [[Draupadi]]'s perspective.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050313/asp/calcutta/story_4482774.asp | location=Calcutta, India | work=The Telegraph | first=Madhumita | last=Bhattacharyya | title=Dreams and dislocation | date=13 March 2005}}</ref>

===Film, television, theatre and opera===
Divakaruni's novel ''The [[Mistress of Spices]]'' was released as a film [[The Mistress of Spices (film)|of the same name]] in 2005. It was directed by [[Paul Mayeda Berges]], with a script by Berges and his wife, [[Gurinder Chadha]]. The film starred [[Aishwarya Rai]] and [[Dylan McDermott]].

In addition, her novel ''Sister of my Heart'' was made into a television series by [[Suhasini Maniratnam]] in Tamil and aired in India, as ''Anbulla Snegithiye (Loving Friend)''. In 2018 the producers NR Pachisia und Dipankar Jojo Chaki secured the rights to a film adaption of ''[[The Palace of Illusions]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/reel/895908/film-adaptation-of-chitra-banerjee-divakarunis-novel-on-drapaudi-in-the-works|title=Entertainment News: Film adaptation of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel on Drapaudi in the works|date=2018-09-26|website=scroll.in|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

Her story ''Clothes'' from the collection ''Arranged Marriage'' was adapted into play under the title ''Arranged Marriage'' by Peggy Shannon in 2004, 2010, and 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fusia.ca/canadian-premiere-of-award-winning-bollywood-play-arranged-marriage/|title=Canadian Premiere of Award-Winning Bollywood Play – Arranged Marriage|last=Dhanji|first=Aabida|date=2016-05-22|website=fusia.ca|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ryerson.ca/news-events/podcasts/2016/08/peggy-shannon-arranged-marriage/|title=Podcast: Peggy Shannon on 'Arranged Marriage'|last=Sloan|first=Will|date=2016-05-12|website=Ryerson Today – ryerson.ca|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> Furthermore the story was transformed into a dance theater piece and brought on stage by director Roberta Uno of [[New WORLD Theater|New World Theater]] at the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]].

In 2013, Divakaruni wrote the libretto to a chamber opera for [[Houston Grand Opera]], ''River of Light'', about the life of an Indian woman in Houston. It premiered in 2014<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indoamerican-news.com/houston-grand-operas-river-of-light-to-feature-libretto-by-chitra-divakaruni/|title=Houston Grand Opera's "River of Light" to Feature Libretto by Chitra Divakaruni|last=Kulkarni|first=Pramod|date=2013-12-12|website=indoamerican-news.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> with original compositions by Jack Perla<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anopenbookblog.org/writers-opera-and-chitra-divakaraunis-river-of-light/|title=Writers, Opera, and Chitra Divakaruni's River of Light|date=2014-03-21|website=anopenbookblog.org|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref> and was shown again in 2015 by the opera company Festival Opera, directed by Tanya Kane-Parry at the [[Oakland Asian Cultural Center]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/festival-opera/-lt-em-gt-river-of-light-lt-/em-gt-shines-at-festival-opera|title=River of Light Shines at Festival Opera|last=Wishnia|first=Rebecca|date=2015-11-16|website=San Francisco Classical Voice – sfcv.org|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

''The Palace of Illusions'' was adapted into a play named ''Fire and Ice: Draupadi's Story'' by Joe DiSabatino and performed in India under his direction. A Bollywood movie with the title ''Mahabharat'', starring [[Deepika Padukone]] as Draupadi, is currently prepared in India based on ''The Palace of Illusions''. The premiere is scheduled for 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmibeat.com/bollywood/news/2019/deepika-padukone-starrer-mahabharat-based-on-the-novel-the-palace-of-illusions/articlecontent-pf303283-291760.html|title=Deepika Padukone Starrer Mahabharat Based On The Novel 'The Palace Of Illusions'|last=Aishwarya|date=2019-11-14|website=filmibeat.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

Divakaruni's novel ''One Amazing Thing'' has been optioned by the Hollywood production company Gillen Group.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

== Publications ==

=== Fiction ===
* ''Arranged Marriage: Stories'' (1995)
* ''[[Mistress of Spices (novel)|The Mistress of Spices]]'' (1997)
* ''[[Sister of My Heart (novel)|Sister of My Heart]]'' (1999)
* ''The Unknown Errors of our Lives'' (2001)
* ''The Vine of Desire'' (2002)
* ''Queen of Dreams'' (2004)
* ''The Lives of Strangers'' (2007)
* ''[[The Palace of Illusions: A Novel]]'' (2008)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/27/palace-illusions-chitra-banerjee-divakaruni|title=The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|last=Purdon|first=James|date=2009-09-27|website=theguardian.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>
* ''[[One Amazing Thing]]'' (2010)
* ''Oleander Girl'' (2013)
* ''Before We Visit the Goddess'' (2016)
* ''The Forest of Enchantments'' (2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nripulse.com/it-was-the-right-time-to-write-about-sitas-strength-and-power/|title=It was the right time to write about Sita's strength and power|last=Veena|date=2020-01-03|website=nripulse.com|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>
* ''The Last Queen'' (2021)

=== Young adult and children's ===
* ''Neela: Victory Song'' (2002)
* ''Grandma and the Great Gourd'' (2013) (children's picture book)

==== Brotherhood of the Conch series ====
* ''[[The Conch Bearer]]'' (2003)
* ''[[The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming]]'' (2005)
* ''Shadowland'' (2009)

=== Poetry ===
* ''mr. aryan yadav'', 1987.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/166154/Divakaruni%2c%20Chitra%20Banerjee.pdf|title=Voices from the Gaps: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|last=Bredemus|first=James Thomas|date=1999-04-04|website=conservancy.umn.edu|access-date=2020-02-07}} Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/166154</ref>
* ''The Reason for Nasturtiums'', Berkeley (Berkeley Poets Workshop) 1990. {{ISBN|978-0-917658-28-0}}
* ''Black Candle. Poems About Women from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh'', Corvallis (Calyx Books) 1991. {{ISBN|978-0-934971-74-4}}
* ''Leaving Yuba City'', St. Louis (Turtleback Books) 1997. {{ISBN|978-1-4177-1097-3}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/10/divakaruni-chitra-banerjee/|title=Authors & Artists: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Biography|last=Patel|first=Nilu N.|date=1998-03-01|website=scholarblogs.emory.edu|access-date=2020-02-07}} Article last edited in May 2017</ref>

=== Anthologies ===
* ''Multitude: Cross Cultural Readings for Writers'' (1993)
* ''We Too Sing America'' (1997)
* ''California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century'' (2004)

==See also==
{{Portal|Literature}}
* [[List of Indian Americans]]
* [[Indian English literature]]
* [[List of Asian American writers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Abcarian, Richard and Marvin Klotz. "Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni." In ''Literature: The Human Experience'', 9th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006: 1544.
* Aldana, Frederick Luis. "Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: The Unknown Errors of Our Lives." ''World Literature Today''. University of Oklahoma. 1 January 2002.
* {{cite book|last1=Cheung|first1=King-Kok|title=Words matter conversations with Asian American writers|date=2000|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press in association with UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Los Angeles|location=Honolulu|isbn=9780585469423|oclc=52974184}}
* Softsky, Elizabeth. "Cross Cultural Understanding Spiced with the Indian Diaspora." ''Black Issues in Higher Education'' 14 (15):26. 18 September 1997.
* X.J. Kennedy et al. ''The Bedford Reader'', 10th edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007: 446.
* Majithia, Sheetal. "Of Foreigners and Fetishes: A Reading of Recent South Asian American Fiction." ''Samar'' 14: The South Asian American Generation (Fall/Winter 2001): 52–53. https://web.archive.org/web/20140112040407/http://samarmagazine.org/archive/articles/59
* Newton, Pauline T. ''Transcultural Women of Later Twentieth Century US American Literature''. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.
* Merlin, Lara. "The Mistress of Spices." ''World Literature Today''. University of Oklahoma. 1 January 1998.
* Johnson, Sarah Anne. "Writing outside the Lines." ''Writer'' 117(3):20 Mar 2004.
* Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath. ''Asian American Novelists A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook''. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2000. {{ISBN|9780313309113}}
* {{Cite journal | last = Zupančič | first = Metka | title = The power of storytelling: an interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | journal = [[Contemporary Women's Writing]] | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 85–101 | doi = 10.1093/cww/vpr023 | date = July 2012 }}

==External links==
* {{wikiquote inline|Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni}}
* {{Official website|http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/}}
* {{IMDb name|id=2117209|name=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni}}
* {{isfdb name|id=Chitra_Banerjee_Divakaruni|name=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni}}

{{American Book Awards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee}}
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American women short story writers]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Wright State University alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali writers]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Houston faculty]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:American people of Bengali descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American novelists of Indian descent]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:American women writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:American short story writers of Asian descent]]
[[Category:American writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Women writers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Novelists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Poets from West Bengal]]
[[Category:PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners]]
[[Category:American Book Award winners]]
[[Category:Novelists from Texas]]
[[Category:American women academics]]

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - Revision history

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