Faculty

Amitava Kumar

Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair

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In the Media
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Amitava Kumar is the author, most recently, of a novel entitled A Time Outside This Time (forthcoming from Knopf in the US, Picador in the UK, and in translation elsewhere). His last novel, Immigrant, Montana, was named among the “notable books of the year” by the New York Times and also the “best books of the year” by the New Yorker. President Barack Obama included it among his favorite books of the year. Kumar has written several works of literary non-fiction, including the prize-winning book A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb, described by the New York Times as a “perceptive and soulful” meditation on “the cultural and human repercussions” of the global war on terror. His other titles include Passport Photos; Bombay-London-New York; Husband of a Fanatic; A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna; Lunch with a Bigot: The Writer in the World; and, most recently, Every Day I Write the Book. Kumar’s first novel, Home Products, was short-listed for India’s premier literary award and republished in the US under the title Nobody Does the Right Thing. His writings have appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, The New York Times, The New Yorker.com, Bookforum, Kenyon Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Critical Inquiry, Boston Review, Caravan, The Indian Express, The New Statesman, American Prospect, and numerous other venues. “Pyre,” an essay first published in Granta, was chosen by Jonathan Franzen for The Best American Essays 2016. Kumar is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a United States Artists fellowship, and residencies from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Lannan Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio. He serves on the editorial board of several publications and is the script-writer and narrator of two documentary films: “Pure Chutney” (1997) and “Dirty Laundry” (2005). Professor Kumar teaches classes that mainly deal with: reportage; the essay-form, both in prose and film; cities; literatures describing the global movement of goods and people; war; memory-work.

BA, University of Delhi; MA, Syracuse University; MA, University of Delhi; PhD, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

At Vassar since 2005

Contact

amkumar@vassar.edu

845-437-5653

Eleanor Butler Sanders Hall
Box 518

Website

Departments and Programs

American Studies

English

Media Studies

Urban Studies Program

Courses

AMST/ENGL 203 These American Lives: New Journalisms
ENGL 101 The Art of Reading and Writing

Grants, Fellowships, Honors, Awards

Professor Amitava is the author of “The Blue Book,” a writer’s journal.
Professor Kumar’s “The Blue Book” is a writer’s journal, a mix of original artwork and journal entries reflecting on the COVID pandemic as it unfolded.

In the Media

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, wrote a poem about communication between fathers and sons that was published in Outlook India.

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, wrote an Oprah Daily article about the auction for the estate of author Joan Didion.

In Oprah Daily, author and Professor of English Amitava Kumar reflects on Salman Rushdie’s profound influence on writers and readers around the world.

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, and photographer Caleb Stein ’17 collaborated on “An Ode to the Queen City of the Hudson,” an opinion piece in the New York Times.

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, spoke with Telegraph India about his latest work, The Blue Book: A Writer’s Journal.

The latest novel by Professor Amitava Kumar, A Time Outside This Time, was reviewed by India Today.

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was featured in a Yahoo! News story about authors from India.

In his new novel, A Time Outside This Time, Professor of English Amitava Kumar “provides a shimmering assault on the Zeitgeist,” says the New Yorker.

Pictures And Words: Holding Truth To Power In An Unequal World

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was interviewed on WAMC’s The Book Show about his new novel, A Time Outside This Time.

A Time Outside This Time, by Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was featured in a Chronogram list of six books to “devour” in October.

Amitava Kumar talked with Mint Lounge about his work process and his workspace.

The panelists (left to right): Moderator Jessica Brier, Professor of English Amitava Kumar, SUNY New Paltz Professor of Photography Nadia Sablin, Wall Street Journal Editor Rich Bellis ’10, Miscellany News Managing Editor Dean Kopitsky ’22, and Miscellany News Editor-in-Chief Olivia Watson ’22.

Straight from the Source: Panelists Debate the Ethics of News Photography

Two days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a top editor from the Wall Street Journal traded observations with student journalists and media experts about the evolving ethics of news photography at a forum at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center.

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, talked with Publishers Weekly about his latest book, A Time Outside This Time.

In the New York Times Magazine, English Professor Amitava Kumar describes the productivity trick that never fails him.

Amitava Kumar on painting to remember the Delhi riots

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, talked with Mint Lounge about his recent artwork—paintings and drawings.

Ved Mehta, an Eclectic Writer of Prose Whose Disability Didn't Prevent Him from Seeing the World

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, wrote a Wire story about New Yorker author Ved Mehta and the impact his writing had on him.

Rules of the jungle have changed: Amitava Kumar responds to assault on Caravan staffer

Prime Time With Ravish Kumar: Online पढ़ाई- आफत या मिठाई?

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was interviewed on NDTV about how Vassar professors and students are teaching and learning during the pandemic.

Authors Distill Their Writing Advice to Just a Few Words

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, wrote a New York Times article about authors who have provided him writing advice.

George Saunders and the Making of Lincoln in the Bardo

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, interviewed Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders for Jaipur Lit Fest’s Brave New World.

Brick Podcast

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was interviewed about memory and the written word.

An Excellent Grocery Store

Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, wrote a Chronogram piece about the neighborhood grocery store My Market.

Professor of English Amitava Kumar is interviewed on WAMC about his new book “Every Day I Write the Book,” featuring interviews with writers.

The Ruse of Fiction: An Interview with Amitava Kumar

Amitava Kumar and his latest book, Immigrant, Montana, were the subjects of a Public Books story.

Hindu College Awarded its Illustrious Alumni at the 17th edition of Distinguished Alumni Awards-2019

Amitava Kumar received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Hindu College, University of Delhi.

Turning the Sentence

Amitava Kumar was the subject of an India Today story.

For author Amitava Kumar, a desire to find big ideas in small packages leads to a push for novellas

Amitava Kumar talked to the Boston Globe about some of his favorite books.

Grammar as Resistance in the Trump Era: A new book on language gently promotes better citizenship through copy editing

Medium article by Amitava Kumar.

Barack Obama lists his favorite books, songs and movies of 2018

The novel Immigrant, Montana, by Amitava Kumar, Helen D. Lockwood Professor of English, was recently included on President Obama’s Best of 2018 list.

The Best Books of 2018

Immigrant, Montana, the latest novel by Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was selected as one of the best books of 2018 by the New Yorker.

100 Notable Books of 2018: The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review

Immigrant, Montana, the latest novel by Amitava Kumar, Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair, was included in the New York Times “100 Notable Books of 2018” list.

Photos

Download images for non-commercial use, photo credit required.

Don J. Usner