Janice Pariat is an Indian poet and writer. She was born in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and grew up in

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

, Meghalaya.Rao Chaini, Sanjitha (15 October 2012)
"A Tale Can Be Told In Many Ways"
, ''Business World. ''Retrieved 30 August 2013.

Staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

(31 August 2013)
"Honoured, says State's 1st Sahitya awardee in English"
''Eastern Chronicle''. Retrieved 31 August 2013. ''Boats on Land'' (Random House India, 2012), her debut collection of short stories, won the 2013

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Young Writer Award for the English languageSahitya Akademi Press Release
(23 August 2013). Retrieved 30 August 2013. and the 2013

Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

for fiction. Pariat is the first writer from

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

to receive an award from the

for a work in English.

Early life and career

Pariat was born in

Jorhat Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...

, Assam, and grew up between

and several tea estates in

. She was educated at Loreto Convent, Shillong and

The Assam Valley School The Assam Valley School (informally Assam Valley School or AVS) is a co-educational private boarding school in Assam, India,which was founded in 1995 by the Williamson Magor Education Trust. The school, spread across 270 acres, houses 890 studen ...

. Thereafter she obtained a BA in English Literature from

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

and an MA in History of Art and/or Archaeology from

SOAS, University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

. She is the editor of online literary journal Pyrta, which she founded in 2010. Her writing has featured in a number of Indian and international magazines, such as ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

Delhi'', ''

The Caravan ''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. History In 1940, Vishwa Nath launched ''Caravan'' as the first magazine from the Delhi Press; it went on to establish its ...

'' and ''Internazionale''. Pariat teaches Creative Writing and History of Art at

Ashoka University Ashoka University is a philanthropy-driven private university located in the National Capital Region (NCR), India, focusing on a liberal education in the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Sciences. The university is on a mission to buil ...

Awards and honours

In 2013, Pariat's debut collection of short stories ''Boats on Land'' won the

Young Writer Award for the English language, and a

(fiction). The same work was also shortlisted for the 2013 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, and longlisted for the 2013 uday lakhanpal International Short Story Award and the 2013 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award. ''Seahorse'' was shortlisted for

The Hindu Literary Prize ''The Hindu'' Literary Prize or ''The Hindu'' Best Fiction Award, established in 2010, is an Indian literary award sponsored by ''The Hindu Literary Review'' which is part of the newspaper ''The Hindu''. It recognizes Indian works in English and ...

(2015).

Style

In ''Boats on Land'', Pariat's stories – set between

Cherrapunji Cherrapunji () or Sohra is a subdivisional town (Proposed District) East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is the traditional capital of ka ''hima'' Sohra (Khasi tribal kingdom). Sohra has often been credited as being t ...

and

– undertake fictional re-imaginings of the transformations that swept through

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

during a period of three centuries, starting in the 1850s. Weaving together local folklore and tradition with unfolding social and political events, Pariat's style has been likened to

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

(2012)
Book Review: Boats on Land
''The Book Outline''. Retrieved 30 August 2013. as well as to

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...

's writing.

(November 2012)
"Boats on Land"
''First City''. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

Jeet Thayil Jeet Thayil (born 1959) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including ''These Errors Are Correct'' (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, '' Narcopolis,'' ( ...

commented on her stories to be 'revelatory and original'.

Bibliography

Fiction

*''Everything the Light Touches'', HarperCollins, 2022. *''The Nine-Chambered Heart'', HarperCollins India, New Delhi, 2017. *''Seahorse: A novel'', Random House India, New Delhi, 2014. * ''Boats on Land: A collection of short stories'', Random House India, New Delhi, 2012.

Poetry

*
The Yellow Nib Modern English Poetry by Indians
' ( Sudeep Sen ed.),

Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry The Seamus Heaney Centre is located at Queen's University Belfast, and named after the late Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney graduated from Queens in 1961 with a First Class Honours in English language and l ...

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, 2011 . * ''Kavi Kala: The Visual Poetry Project'' (Madness Manali ed.), Cinnamon Teal Print and Publishing, Goa, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pariat, Janice Women writers from Meghalaya English-language writers from India Living people Indian women poets St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Poets from Meghalaya 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian poets People from Jorhat district People from Shillong Poets from Assam Women writers from Assam Year of birth missing (living people)