{{short description|Indian writer and journalist (born 1963)}} {{Use British English|date=March 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Amitava Kumar | image = Amitava Kumar.png | caption = Kumar speaking at the Asian American Writers Workshop in 2011. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1963|3|17}} | birth_place = Arrah, Bihar, India | alma_mater = Delhi University<br />Syracuse University<br />University of Minnesota | occupation = Professor of English at Vassar College | awards = Guggenheim Fellowship <https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/amitava-kumar/>, United States Artists Fellow <https://www.unitedstatesartists.org/fellow/amitava-kumar/>, Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library <https://www.nypl.org/blog/2023/04/12/meet-cullman-center-scholars-and-writers> }}
'''Amitava Kumar''' (born 17 March 1963) is an Indian writer and journalist. At Vassar College, he is Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amitava Kumar {{!}} Faculty {{!}} Vassar College |url=https://www.vassar.edu/faculty/amkumar |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=www.vassar.edu}}</ref>
==Personal life== Kumar was born in the city of Arrah in the Indian state of Bihar on 17 March 1963 and grew up in the nearby city of Patna.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nassour |first=Hasan |title=Kumar, Amitava (1963?) |date=2025 |work=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing |pages=263–264 |editor-last=Jaidka |editor-first=Manju |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NASKAG |access-date=2026-03-21 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |editor2-last=Dhar |editor2-first=Tej N. |editor3-last=Vashisht |editor3-first=Natasha}}</ref> He attended St Michael's High School.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nassour |first=Hasan |title=Kumar, Amitava (1963?) |date=2025 |work=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing |pages=263–264 |editor-last=Jaidka |editor-first=Manju |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NASKAG |access-date=2026-03-21 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |editor2-last=Dhar |editor2-first=Tej N. |editor3-last=Vashisht |editor3-first=Natasha}}</ref> In India, Kumar earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Hindu College, Delhi University in 1984.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nassour |first=Hasan |title=Kumar, Amitava (1963?) |date=2025 |work=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing |pages=263–264 |editor-last=Jaidka |editor-first=Manju |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NASKAG |access-date=2026-03-21 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |editor2-last=Dhar |editor2-first=Tej N. |editor3-last=Vashisht |editor3-first=Natasha}}</ref>
He holds two master's degrees in Linguistics and Literature from Delhi University (1986) and Syracuse University (1988), respectively.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nassour |first=Hasan |title=Kumar, Amitava (1963?) |date=2025 |work=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing |pages=263–264 |editor-last=Jaidka |editor-first=Manju |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NASKAG |access-date=2026-03-21 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |editor2-last=Dhar |editor2-first=Tej N. |editor3-last=Vashisht |editor3-first=Natasha}}</ref> In 1993, he received his doctoral degree from the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nassour |first=Hasan |title=Kumar, Amitava (1963?) |date=2025 |work=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Diasporic Indian English Writing |pages=263–264 |editor-last=Jaidka |editor-first=Manju |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/NASKAG |access-date=2026-03-21 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore |editor2-last=Dhar |editor2-first=Tej N. |editor3-last=Vashisht |editor3-first=Natasha}}</ref> Kumar lives with his family in Poughkeepsie, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.amitavakumar.com/about/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.amitavakumar.com}}</ref>
==Work==
===Overview=== Kumar has an extensive and wide-spanning body of literary work. His journalistic writing has appeared in ''Granta'', ''The New Yorker'', ''The New York Times'', ''Harper’s'' ''Magazine'', ''BRICK''''',''' ''Guernica'', ''New Statesman'', ''The Caravan'', ''The Indian Express'', ''The Hindu'', and ''The Nation'''''.''' Both his nonfiction books and novels have received critical acclaim. His novel ''Home Products'' (2007, and as ''Nobody Does the Right Thing, 2010'') was short-listed for India's premier literary prize, the Vodafone Crossword Book Award.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 1, 2009 |title=I Don’t Want To Fight |url=https://www.guernicamag.com/i_dont_want_to_fight_guernica/}}</ref> His later novel, ''Immigrant, Montana'' (2018) was named a Book of the Year at ''The New Yorker,''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waldman |first=Katy |date=2018-12-04 |title=The Best Books of 2018 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2018-in-review/the-best-books-of-2018 |access-date=2026-04-03 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> Notable Book of the Year by ''The New York Times,''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=The New York |date=2018-11-19 |title=100 Notable Books of 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/19/books/review/100-notable-books.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/19/books/review/100-notable-books.html |access-date=2026-04-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and was on President Obama’s list of favorite books of 2018'''.'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martinez |first=Gina |date=December 28, 2018 |title=Barack Obama Reveals His Favorite Books, Movies and Songs of 2018. His Choices Might Surprise You |url=https://time.com/5489775/barack-obama-favorites-list-2018/ |access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> More recently, his book ''A Time Outside This Time'' (2021) was described by ''The New Yorker'' as “a shimmering assault on the Zeitgeist.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yorker |first=The New |date=2021-11-29 |title=Briefly Noted |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/06/born-in-blackness-twelve-caesars-the-sentence-and-a-time-outside-this-time |access-date=2026-03-21 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> Kumar’s latest novel ''My Beloved Life'' (2024) was praised by James Wood as “beautiful, truthful fiction.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=James |date=2024-04-01 |title=Amitava Kumar and the Novel of the Translated Man |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/08/my-beloved-life-amitava-kumar-book-review |access-date=2026-03-21 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>
As for his nonfiction work, his book ''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb: A Writer’s Report on the Global War on Terror'' (2010, and as ''Evidence of Suspicion'', 2009) was the 2011 Winner for Nonfiction in the Asian American Literary Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-25 |title=Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/amitava-kumar |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=The Poetry Foundation}}</ref> In a review by The ''New York Times,'' Dwight Garner called the book a "perceptive and soulful…meditation on the global war on terror and its cultural and human repercussions."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=2010-08-05 |title=The Global War on Small People |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/books/06book.html |access-date=2026-03-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It was also the 2010 staff pick at Publishers Weekly.<ref>{{Cite web |title='PW' Staff Picks 2010 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/43367-pw-staff-picks-2010.html |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref> ''Husband of a Fanatic'' (2005) was an "Editors' Choice" book at the ''New York Times'';<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/amitava-kumar/ |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=www.gf.org}}</ref> ''Bombay-London-New York'' (2002) was on the list of "Books of the Year" in ''New Statesman'' (UK);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/amitava-kumar/ |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=www.gf.org}}</ref> and ''Passport Photos'' (2000) won an "Outstanding Book of the Year" award from the Myers Program for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award {{!}} Awards and Honors {{!}} LibraryThing |url=https://www.librarything.com/award/2699/Gustavus-Myers-Outstanding-Book-Award |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=LibraryThing.com |language=en}}</ref>
Kumar has conducted and participated in several notable interviews, including his interview of Indian novelist Arundhati Roy in February 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-02-15 |title=The Un-Victim |url=https://www.guernicamag.com/roy_2_15_11/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251231202557/https://www.guernicamag.com/roy_2_15_11/ |archive-date=2025-12-31 |access-date=2026-04-03 |work=Guernica |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2008, on Al Jazeera's Riz Khan Show, Kumar was interviewed on the use of terror threats by governments to advance their own political agendas; the interview aired on the Al Jazeera English Network.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Politics of terror threats |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/video/riz-khan/2010/11/9/politics-of-terror-threats |access-date=2026-04-03 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>
The content of Kumar's writing has been significantly affected by the death of his parents, reflecting on them in several of his works. He explores rituals of death, grief, and memory in his essay “Pyre,” which was selected by Jonathan Franzen for Best American Essays 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best American Essays 2016 |url=https://www.thebestamericanessays.com/p/the-best-american-essays-2016.html |access-date=2026-03-23 |language=en}}</ref> In a 2024 article for Lit Hub, he discusses the death of his father and the ways in which writers contend with the loss of their parents in their work.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Amitava |date=2024-02-27 |title=Amitava Kumar on Finding Solace in the Words of Others |url=https://lithub.com/amitava-kumar-on-finding-solace-in-the-words-of-others/ |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Literary Hub |language=en}}</ref>
His academic writing and literary criticism have appeared in several journals, including ''Critical Inquiry'', ''Cultural Studies'''', Critical Quarterly'', ''College Literature'', ''Race and Class'', ''American Quarterly'', ''Rethinking Marxism'', ''Minnesota Review'', ''Journal of Advanced Composition'', ''Amerasia Journal'' and ''Modern Fiction Studies''.
Kumar was also the scriptwriter for two documentary films. He worked on ''Dirty Laundry'' (2005),a film about the national-racial politics of Indian South Africans. He also narrated and wrote the script for the prize-winning documentary film ''Pure Chutney'' (1997) about the descendants of indentured Indian laborers in Trinidad.<ref name="vassar.edu">{{Cite web |title=Amitava Kumar {{!}} Faculty {{!}} Vassar College |url=https://www.vassar.edu/faculty/amkumar |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=www.vassar.edu}}</ref>
At Vassar College, “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.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amitava Kumar {{!}} Faculty {{!}} Vassar College |url=https://www.vassar.edu/faculty/amkumar#profile |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=www.vassar.edu}}</ref>
Many of Kumar’s former students have made important contributions to art, literature, and journalism. He taught [https://masspoetry.org/getting-to-know-mikko-harvey/ award-winning] poet and author [https://www.mikkoharvey.com/ Mikko Harvey], who has received multiple fellowships for his writing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting to Know Mikko Harvey, Author of Let the World Have You {{!}} Mass Poetry |url=https://masspoetry.org/getting-to-know-mikko-harvey/ |access-date=2026-03-27 |language=en-US}}</ref> He also taught photographer [https://www.caleb-stein.com/ Caleb Stein], whose work has received [https://www.caleb-stein.com/about several awards] and has been displayed in many [https://www.caleb-stein.com/about prominent collections and publications].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-17 |title=Artist Talk with Caleb Stein ’17 {{!}} Vassar College |url=https://www.vassar.edu/news/events/artist-talk-caleb-stein-17 |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=www.vassar.edu |language=en}}</ref> Kumar’s former student [https://www.lucasmann.com/new-page-cwb Lucas Mann] is a [https://www.lucasmann.com/new-page-cq3h critically acclaimed] author and writer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lunch With Professor Amitava Kumar - Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly |url=https://www.vassar.edu/vq/issues/2015/02/vassar-today/amitava-kumar.html |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=www.vassar.edu}}</ref> He is currently an associate professor at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth where he teaches courses in creative writing, journalism, and professional writing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dartmouth |first=University of Massachusetts |title=Lucas Mann {{!}} UMass Dartmouth Associate Professor |url=https://www.umassd.edu/directory/lmann/ |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=www.umassd.edu |language=en}}</ref> His student Alanna Okun is a writer who was a senior editor at Vox Media. He also taught Kelly Stout, a writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications like ''The New Yorker'' and ''Esquire''. Okun and Stout both cite Kumar’s teaching as an important part of their development as writers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-11 |title=Alums discuss journalism careers |url=https://miscellanynews.org/2018/04/11/arts/alums-discuss-journalism-careers/ |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=The Miscellany News |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Book synopses ===
* ''Passport Photos'' (2000) is “a report on the immigrant condition” that blends “theory, poetry, cultural criticism, and photography.” It explores “the complexities of the immigration experience, intervening in the impersonal language of the state.”<ref>{{Cite web |title=Passport Photos by Amitava Kumar - Paper |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/books/passport-photos/paper |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=University of California Press |language=en}}</ref> * Blending memoir with literary criticism, ''Bombay–London–New York'' (2002) “tells the story of how…India colonized the West and brought it a step closer to genuine multiculturalism.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-28 |title=Bombay-London-New York, by Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/bombaylondonnew-york-by-amitava-kumar-120777.html |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> In doing so, Kumar “lyrically evokes the standard diasporic themes of abandonment, exile and romantic nostalgia for a ‘home’ left behind."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-28 |title=Bombay-London-New York, by Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/bombaylondonnew-york-by-amitava-kumar-120777.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> * ''Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate'' (2005) explores “a series of journeys over the India-Pakistan border and the interior boundaries of love and hate, as well as to South Africa, New York and London.” In this nonfiction work, “Kumar tells densely wrought stories about forbidden love, his own marriage, tragi-comic border tensions and the poisonous issue of conversion.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-02-24 |title=Husband of a Fanatic, by Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/husband-of-a-fanatic-by-amitava-kumar-746223.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> * In ''Home Products'' (published in the U.S. under the title ''Nobody Does the Right Thing'', 2010) Kumar examines the “question of how art, which is a representation of life, also impacts life, triggering memories, provoking connections and being assimilated till it practically becomes a home product.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Choudhury |first=Chandrahas |date=2007-03-24 |title=Home is where the heart is |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Swj7N2h1yGWvrNUBFUFVJL/Home-is-where-the-heart-is.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref> * ''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm A Tiny Bomb'' (2010) “is about the ordinary men and women, brown-skinned in general and Muslim in particular, who have had their lives upended by America’s enraged security apparatus.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garner |first=Dwight |date=2010-08-05 |title=The Global War on Small People |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/books/06book.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna'' (2014) takes the reader through Kumar’s hometown of Patna, exploring the city’s storied past and present reality. It represents “an insider’s alternative to the scornful narratives of Patna made popular by Western writers.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Faleiro |first=Sonia |date=2014-05-08 |title=Uneasy Inhabitants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/books/review/a-matter-of-rats-by-amitava-kumar.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''Lunch with a Bigot: The Writer in the World'' (2015) is an essay collection of “intimate stories about people who have not been often represented in our media.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-08 |title=Intimate with the Enemy: Why You Ought to Have Lunch with a Bigot |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/intimate-with-the-enemy-why-you-ought-to-have-lunch-with-a-bigot |access-date=2026-03-27 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref> Kumar’s essays complicate “our desire that others be recognizable, familiar, and our relations with them comfortable, and instead seek parallactic intimacies — he writes stories about others about whom we’ve been silent, and about the ‘borders of the self.’”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-08 |title=Intimate with the Enemy: Why You Ought to Have Lunch with a Bigot |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/intimate-with-the-enemy-why-you-ought-to-have-lunch-with-a-bigot |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Los Angeles Review of Books}}</ref> * ''Immigrant, Montana'' (2018), first published in India as ''The Lovers'' (2017) “recalls the youthful romantic adventures of Kailash, an Indian-born writer and scholar.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Asim |first=Jabari |date=2018-09-28 |title=An Immigrant Weaves His Love Stories Between Fact and Fiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/books/review/amitava-kumar-immigrant-montana.html |access-date=2026-03-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Purposefully blurring the line “between the author’s life and that of his fictional protagonist,” this novel “‘is a work of fiction as well as nonfiction,’” in Kumar’s own words.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Asim |first=Jabari |date=2018-09-28 |title=An Immigrant Weaves His Love Stories Between Fact and Fiction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/books/review/amitava-kumar-immigrant-montana.html |access-date=2026-03-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * In ''Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style'' (2020), Kumar provides “a guide for academic writers that is also relevant to anyone who cares about fine prose.” In this “handbook on style and form,” he offers advice for how to make scholarly writing more engaging, creative, and imbued with the writer’s unique style.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/amitava-kumar/every-day-i-write-the-book/ |title=EVERY DAY I WRITE THE BOOK {{!}} Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref> * In ''A Time Outside This Time'' (2021), “Satya is an Indian writer based in New York, enjoying a residency for artists in Italy… His resilient pursuit of social norms as defined in a post-truth world results in him building a plotline for his book.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saha |first=Shrestha |date=November 24, 2021 |title='A Time Outside This Time' is a searing reflection of a world riddled by fake news |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/book-review-a-time-outside-this-time-is-a-searing-reflection-of-a-world-riddled-by-fake-news/cid/1840344}}</ref> * ''The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal'' (2022) is “a memory book with hybrid literary and artistic parentage” in which “words become paintings, and paintings turn into a beguiling literary anthropology of ‘reality and surreality’ that leaves us stunned.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-06 |title=A writer’s diary {{!}} Book review: ‘The Blue Book’ by Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.financialexpress.com/life/lifestyle-a-writers-diary-book-review-the-blue-book-by-amitava-kumar-2451741/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=The Financial Express |language=en}}</ref> * In ''The Yellow Book: A Traveller's Diary'' (2023), Kumar “designs smooth vignettes that circulate around ''indicia'' of contemporary interests,” including “the Covid pandemic, the grievous assault on Salman Rushdie, Kumar’s writing and London-strolling classes.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mani Tripathi |first=Utkarsh |date=February 23, 2024 |title=Six degrees of unification |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/six-degrees-of-unification-the-yellow-book-is-a-gale-of-fresh-classic-fare/cid/2002361?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tt_daily_twit}}</ref> * ''The Green Book: An Observer’s Notebook'' (2024) is the final installment of Kumar’s trilogy on his art and personal journal entries, and is “a groundbreaking account of his creative process" that "emphasizes the importance of journaling for self-discovery.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-11 |title=HarperCollins presents The Green Book by Amitava Kumar |url=https://harpercollins.co.in/press/harpercollins-presents-the-green-book-by-amitava-kumar/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=HarperCollins |language=en-US}}</ref> * ''My Beloved Life'' (2024) is “a vivid exploration of some of life’s most painful experiences—the catastrophic breakup of a marriage, political violence, and social crisis, the death of one’s parents—and how we manage to go on afterward.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kreitner |first=Richard |date=2024-02-01 |title=A Review of Amitava Kumar's My Beloved Life |url=https://www.chronogram.com/arts/a-review-of-amitava-kumars-my-beloved-life-19922280/ |access-date=2026-03-04 |website=Chronogram Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Bibliography ===
==== Books ====
* ''No Tears for the N.R.I.'', Writers Workshop, 1996. {{ISBN|978-81-7189-893-0}} * ''Passport Photos'', University of California Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-520-21816-1}} * ''Bombay–London–New York'', Routledge, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-415-94210-2}} * ''Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate'', The New Press, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-56584-926-6}} * ''Home Products'' (published in the U.S. under the title ''Nobody Does the Right Thing''), Duke University Press, 2010 and Picador India, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-4670-8}} * ''A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm A Tiny Bomb'', Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-4562-6}} * ''A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna'', Duke University Press Books, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-5704-9}} * ''Lunch with a Bigot: The Writer in the World'', Duke University Press Books, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-5911-1}} * ''Immigrant, Montana'', Knopf, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-525-52075-7}} (first published in India as ''The Lovers'', Aleph, 2017. {{ISBN|978-93-86021-00-7}}) * ''Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style'', Duke University Press Books, 2020. {{ISBN|978-1-4780-0627-5}} * ''A Time Outside This Time'', Knopf, 2021. {{ISBN|9780593319017}} * ''The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal'', HarperCollins India, 2022. {{ISBN|978-93-5489-374-2}}, a book of drawings and diary entries * The Yellow Book: A Traveller's Diary, HarperCollins India, 2023. {{ISBN|978-93-5699-603-8}} * ''The Green Book: An Observer’s Notebook,'' HarperCollins India, 2024. {{ISBN|9789365692754}} * ''My Beloved Life'', Knopf, 2024. {{ISBN|978-0-593-53606-3}}
==== Edited works ====
* ''Class Issues: Pedagogy, Cultural Studies, and the Public Sphere'', New York University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780312218669 (edited volume of essays on radical teaching.) * ''Poetics/Politics: Radical Aesthetics for the Classroom'', St Martin’s Press, 1999. ISBN 9780312218669 (edited volume of essays on radical aesthetics and pedagogy) * ''The Humour and the Pity'', Buffalo Books in Association with British Council, 2002. ISBN 9788187890027 (edited volume of essays on V.S. Naipaul) * ''World Bank Literature'', University of Minnesota Press, Dec. 16, 2002. ISBN 9780816638376 (edited volume of essays on global economies and literature) * ''Away: The Indian Writer as an Expatriate'', Routledge, Nov. 13, 2003. ISBN 978-0415968973 (edited volume of essays)
===Awards and fellowships=== Kumar was awarded the Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library for 2023-2024, and was the Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 12, 2023 |title=Meet the 2023–2024 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers |url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2023/04/12/meet-cullman-center-scholars-and-writers |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.nypl.org}}</ref> In 2016, Kumar was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for General Nonfiction,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guggenheim Fellowships: Supporting Artists, Scholars, & Scientists |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/amitava-kumar/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.gf.org}}</ref> as well as a Ford Fellowship in Literature from United States Artists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amitava Kumar |url=https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/bellagio-bulletin/the-people-and-ideas-of-bellagio/amitava-kumar/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=The Rockefeller Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> He has been awarded writing residences by Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, the Norman Mailer Writing Center, Writers Omi at Ledig House, the Lannan Foundation, and the Hawthornden Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.amitavakumar.com/about/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.amitavakumar.com}}</ref> Additionally, he has received research fellowships from the NEH, Yale University, SUNY-Stony Brook, Dartmouth College, and University of California-Riverside.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.amitavakumar.com/about/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.amitavakumar.com}}</ref> Currently, he serves on the board of the Corporation of Yaddo and is a trustee at PEN America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.amitavakumar.com/about/ |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=www.amitavakumar.com}}</ref>
==References== <references>
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==External links== * [http://www.amitavakumar.com/ Official website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Amitava}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Hindu College, Delhi alumni Category:Syracuse University alumni Category:University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Vassar College faculty Category:American male writers of Indian descent Category:Modern School (New Delhi) alumni Category:Writers from Patna Category:Indian social sciences writers Category:21st-century Indian non-fiction writers