Loading...
Creator
Lahiri, Jhumpa
Call number
Berg Coll MSS 186623
Physical description
33.96 linear feet (81 boxes, 2 tubes). 6.0 megabytes (174 computer files). 12 audio recordings. 5 moving image recordings
Language
Multiple languages; English and Italian.
Preferred Citation
Jhumpa Lahiri papers, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
Repository
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Jhumpa Lahiri (born 1967) is a British-American author and translator best known for her short story collections, novels, and nonfiction work that focuses on identity, cultural belonging, and how language interacts with both concepts. Lahiri's papers date from 1967 to 2023, and chronicle her creative process and literary career through correspondence, handwritten and typescript drafts, publishing files, research materials, and publicity materials. The papers also include education and teaching materials, certificates and awards, and artwork.

Biographical/historical information

Jhumpa Lahiri is a British-American author and translator of short stories, essays, and novels. She was born in London, England on July 11, 1967, to Indian immigrants Amar Lahiri and Tapati "Tia" Lahiri. Her family moved to Kingston, Rhode Island, when she was three years old. Amar Lahiri worked as a librarian at the University of Rhode Island, and Tapati Lahiri was a schoolteacher. The family often visited relatives in Kolkata, India, and exclusively spoke Bengali at home.

While attending South Kingstown High School, Lahiri worked on the student newspaper, The Rebellion, as both a writer and editor. The Rebellion won first place in the Rhode Island Scholastic Journalism Competition in 1985, and achieved second place in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Contest in 1986. Lahiri graduated in 1985 and received a citation as a member of the National Honor Society.

Lahiri attended Barnard College and graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. In 1991, she began attending Boston University and would go on to earn four degrees there: a master's in English literature, a master's in creative writing, a master's in comparative literature, and a doctorate in Renaissance studies. Her dissertation, "Accursed Palace: The Italian Palazzo on the Jacobean Stage (1603–1625)," was completed in 1997. Throughout her educational career, Lahiri studied Greek, Latin, and Italian.

While in Boston, Lahiri began working on writing fiction and short stories. She wrote "A Temporary Matter," which would later be the first story included in Interpreter of Maladies, in 1997. Despite facing rejections, Lahiri's stories were eventually published in magazines including The New Yorker, Epoch, AGNI Review, Salamander, and Shankpainter. She took a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown from October 1997 until May 1998.

In 1999, Lahiri published her debut collection, Interpreter of Maladies and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the collection in 2000. In 2003, Lahiri published her first novel, The Namesake. It was adapted into a 2006 movie directed by Mira Nair with a screenplay written by Sooni Taraporevala. Another collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth (2008), and a novel, The Lowland (2013), followed. Lahiri wrote the introduction for The Cost of Living: Early and Uncollected Stories by Mavis Gallant, published in 2009.

Lahiri married then-deputy editor of TIME Latin America, Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush, in 2001. They have two children: Octavio and Noor.

Seeking full immersion in order to master the Italian language, Lahiri and her family moved to Rome in 2012. In 2015, she published an essay in The New Yorker titled "Teach Yourself Italian," in which she declared that she would only write in Italian going forward. The essay itself had been translated from Italian into English. That same year, she published her first Italian work, In altre parole, about her experience learning the language via full immersion. An English translation by Ann Goldstein followed in 2016.

Lahiri translated three of Domenico Starnone's books starting in 2017 with Lacci (Ties); Scherzetto (Trick) in 2018; and Confidenza (Trust) in 2021. She edited and partially translated The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories in 2019.

In 2018, Lahiri published her first novel in Italian, Dove mi trovo, translating it into English for publication as Whereabouts in 2021. Il quaderno di Nerina, a book of poetry, followed in 2021. In 2022, she published a new short story collection under the title Racconti Romani. The English translation, Roman Stories, followed in October 2023, translated by Lahiri and Todd Portnowitz. Translating Myself and Others, a collection of personal essays on the challenges and rewards of translation, was published on May 12, 2022. On April 23, 2025, Netflix announced that Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth would be adapted as a drama series. A short story, "Jubilee," was published in The New Yorker on June 30, 2025.

In 2021, Lahiri and Yelena Baraz, Professor of Classics at Princeton University, began working on a new English translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses for the Modern Library.

Lahiri has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (2002), a National Humanities Medal (2014), and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story (2014), in addition to being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award. She has taught at Boston University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and Barnard College.

Scope and arrangement

Jhumpa Lahiri's papers date from 1967 to 2023 and trace the trajectory of Lahiri's career as a writer and translator, beginning with her earliest stories written in childhood. The papers primarily document the evolution of Lahiri as a writer, her journey towards fluency in Italian, and the publishing industry as seen from an author's perspective.

The collection is arranged into five series that cover Lahiri's published works, correspondence, contracts and rights agreements, speaking and event engagements, publicity and promotional materials, and some personal files.

Ephemera includes high school course notes, teaching materials, correspondence, and Italian language workbooks and worksheets. Personal materials related to Lahiri's family are not present.

Of particular note are Lahiri's early childhood stories; the first drafts of Interpreter of Maladies; a folder of rejection notices and letters from literary publications prior to Interpreter's publication; brief correspondence with Elena Ferrante; her 1997 doctoral dissertation about the Italian palazzo as depicted in early seventeenth century English theatre; and two folders of congratulatory notes and letters about Lahiri's 2000 Pulitzer Prize win.

Materials related to Lahiri's Bone into Stone (October 2024, Sylph Editions) are not present in this collection.

The Jhumpa Lahiri papers are arranged in five series:

  • Series I: Writings
    1967-2023

    Series I covers Jhumpa Lahiri's career as a writer, from her childhood stories in the 1970s through 2023 English translations of her Italian works.

    The series illustrates Lahiri's exploration of themes such as family, language, connection and identity among immigrants and cultural transplants. Both the Books subseries and the Articles and Essays subseries offer insight into Lahiri's writing process via research materials, manuscript drafts, notes, galleys, and proofs. Lectures and Presentations include speech drafts and slide decks made in preparation for events and speaking engagements. The Early and Academic Writing subseries documents Lahiri's writing from childhood up to her doctoral dissertation, and includes materials related to courses she taught while attaining her degrees.

  • Series II: Correspondence
    1992-2021

    The Correspondence series is dated from 1992 to 2021 and chronicles Lahiri's professional and personal relationships through letters, emails, postcards, holiday cards, and notes. Fan letters and congratulatory notes regarding Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize are also present.

    Some individuals Lahiri corresponded with include other writers such as Jennifer Egan, Jeffrey Eugenides, Elena Ferrante, Mavis Gallant, and Padma Lakshmi; and literary agents and editors such as Steven Barclay and Nan Graham.

  • Series III: Business Files
    1997-2022

    Business Files are dated from 1997 to 2022. This series holds contracts, rights agreements, and royalty statements from American and international publishing houses; correspondence relating to speaking engagements and publishing deals; and supplementary material relating to speaking tours and other engagements such as schedules and itineraries, flyers, and brochures for events.

    Materials held under work titles, such as Interpreter and Unaccustomed, include publishing and printing-related materials, such as sample cover art designs, contracts, book tour itineraries, and correspondence related to those topics.

  • Series IV: Memorabilia and Personal Materials
    1982-2020

    Memorabilia, ephemera, and other personal materials are held in Series IV. Dated from 1982 to 2020, Series IV holds personal items from Lahiri's life before publishing Interpreter of Maladies; supplemental materials generated during the process of publishing works through large publishing houses; and other ephemera unrelated to writing or publishing. The series includes awards, early rejection notices, Italian language learning materials, notebooks and journals, works by others, and recordings of speeches, lectures, and readings.

    Drawings, paintings, and sketchbooks, done by Lahiri circa the 1970s through the late 1980s, are held here.

    Lahiri's high school awards for her work with the school paper are present. Other awards include her high school diploma, honorary degrees from William College and the University of Rhode Island, and a video recording of the Pulitzer Prize Award ceremony.

    Some works by others are present in this series. A 1989 issue of Hampshire College's periodical Jane Doe is inscribed to Lahiri, as she helped edit the issue. Renewing the Vows by Peter Schmitt is also inscribed to Lahiri.

  • Series V: Press and Publicity
    1999-2019

    Series V contains an extensive amount of materials related to promotion, publicity, interviews, and reviews. Publications include The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Vogue, Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Bookforum, and The Washington Post. Audio recordings of radio interviews and moving image recordings of readings, lectures, and a media training session are included. Some materials are related to specific works by Lahiri and are arranged together.

    General publicity materials concerning Lahiri, and not specific works, are also present.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Jhumpa Lahiri in 2024.

Processing information

Processed by Em Longan in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Third Floor, Room 320