Aanchal Malhotra (born 1990) is an Indian oral historian, author and artist, known for her work on the 1947 Partition of India. Her research and writings focus on the Oral history of individuals affected by the Partition, capturing their memories and the tangible remnants of that period.
She is the author of the critically acclaimed books Remnants of a Separation and In the Language of Remembering.
Early life and education
Aanchal Malhotra was born in
New Delhi, India, in 1990, where she continues to live and work. She received a BFA degree in traditional printmaking and art history from
OCAD University,
Toronto, where she won the University Medal and the Sir Edmund Walker Award for Graduate Studies. She completed a MFA in Studio Art from Concordia University, Montréal. She belongs to the family of Bahrisons Booksellers, founded by her paternal grandfather, Balraj Bahri, in 1953 in
New Delhi.
Career
Malhotra's debut book
Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory was published by
HarperCollins India in 2017, to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian independence. The project (under the same name) initially began as her MFA dissertation at Concordia University, Montréal, and included field research in India, Pakistan and England.
It is an attempt to revisit the Partition through personal and intimate objects that refugees carried with them across the border during their migration.
Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, it portrays a human history of Partition. It was named a
Hindustan Times "India @ 70" book
and shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi
Yuva Puraskar, Shakti Bhatt Prize First Book Award, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, and Hindu Lit for Life Non Fiction Prize.
Outside the subcontinent, it was published under the title
Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided, by
Hurst Publishers in 2019.
It was shortlisted by the
British Academy for the 2019 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.
In 2022, it won the US-based Council for Museum Anthropology Book Prize, where the committee said “Malhotra’s concern for detail — such as languages spoken, family members present and their interactions during interviews, setting and mood (as well as her own responses to the stories) — creates a strong moral and ethical underpinning for this work . . . It is a model for significant contributions to museum anthropology.”
To mark the 75th anniversary of Partition in 2022, Malhotra published a sequel titled, In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, which focused on the contemporary relevance of Partition in the everyday lives of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis.
Her debut novel, The Book of Everlasting Things, was also published in 2022.
In addition to her books, she has been involved in several oral history projects and is an advisor the Project Dastaan peace initiative. In 2017, she co-founded the Museum of Material Memory,
Books
Non-fiction
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Remnants of a Separation: A History of Partition through Material Memory (2017) / Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided (2019)
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In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition (2022)
Fiction
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The Book of Everlasting Things (December 2022)
Anthologies
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The Book of Dog (HarperCollins India, 2022)
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Our Freedoms: Essays and Stories from India's best writers (Juggernaut, 2021)
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India at 70: Multidisciplinary Approaches (Routledge, 2019)
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Departures in Critical Qualitative Research (University of California Press, 2019)
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Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On (Orient Black Swan, 2017)
Awards and honours
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2017 A Hindustan Times “India @70” Book, Remnants of A Separation
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2022 Council for Museum Anthropology Book Prize, winner, Remnants of Partition
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2022 Valley of Words Prize for Hindi Translation, winner, Yaadon ke Bikhre Moti
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2022 History Today’s Best Books of the Year, In the Language of Remembering
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2024 Literary Prize of The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Indienne, winner, Vestiges d’une Séparation
Further reading
