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Beowulf Sheehan

Amitava Kumar, Helen D. Lockwood Professor of English, is author of the recently published, The Social Life of Indian Trains (Aleph Book Company, 2025), part of Aleph’s “Essential India” series. This work takes as its point of departure Kumar’s New Yorker essay of March 2025 recounting a train journey across India.

Reviewing the book for The Financial Times, Nilanjana Roy noted Kumar’s “sensitive narrative” and “gritty realism”. Meanwhile, Granta magazine has published a special online issue featuring Kumar’s essay “Children's Tales”, which reports on the past and present of the Andaman Islands. Kumar acknowledges Vassar’s Susan Turner Fund, which supported his journey to the Andamans.