Madhuri Vijay is an Indian author living in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. She is the author of ''The Far Field,'' which won the second

JCB Prize JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018. It is awarded annually with prize to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer. The winners will be an ...

for literature, India's most prestigious literary award.

Early life

Vijay was born and grew up in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 2009, she graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducation ...

, where she studied psychology and English. After graduation, she received a

Watson Fellowship The Thomas J. Watson Foundation is a charitable trust formed 1961 in honor of former chairman and CEO of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. The Foundation's stated vision is to empower students “to expand their vision, test and develop their potential, an ...

, which took her to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

while studying people from India living in foreign lands. Halfway through the fellowship, she left to attend the

Iowa Writers’ Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wr ...

Writing

Her debut novel on

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

, ''The Far Field'', won the JCB Prize for literature, considered the highest literary award in

. In doing so, she beat out notable writers

Perumal Murugan Perumal Murugan (born 1966) is an Indian author, scholar and literary chronicler who writes in Tamil. He has written twelve novels, six collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. Five of his novels have been translated into Eng ...

and

Manoranjan Byapari Manoranjan Byapari ( bn, মনোরঞ্জন ব্যাপারী) is an Indian Bengali writer, socio-political activist and a politician. He is among the early writers of Dalit literature in Bengali from the Indian state of West Bengal ...

. Vijay said she was surprised that the book was even published in India, where publishers were reluctant to take it on due to the "current climate in the country." She is also a recipient of the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

and has been longlisted for the

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is an international literary prize awarded annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South AsiaNote: South Asia for the purposes of the prize is defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka ...

. Her writing has appeared in ''

The Best American Nonrequired Reading ''The Best American Nonrequired Reading'' was a yearly anthology of fiction and nonfiction selected annually by high school students in California and Michigan through 826 Valencia and 826michigan. The volume was part of ''The Best American Series ...

'', ''

Narrative Magazine ''Narrative'' is an online magazine and website that is dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age and publishes fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and art. It was founded in 2003. History and profile Founded in 2003, the l ...

'' and ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

'', among other publications.

Personal life

As of 2019, Vijay lives in

, where she teaches English.

Awards

*Watson Fellowship (2009) *Pushcart Prize (2019) *JCB Prize for Literature (2019) *Tata Literature Live First Book Award (2019) *Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (2020), long-listed *Crossword Book Award (2020) *Women AutHer Award for Best Fiction (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vijay, Madhuri Women writers from Karnataka Writers from Bangalore Indian women novelists English-language writers from India Living people Lawrence University alumni 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people