Prajwal Parajuly (né Sharma; born 24 October 1984) is an Indian writer whose works focus on Nepali language-speaking people and their culture. Parajuly's works include the short-story collection The Gurkha's Daughter and novel Land Where I Flee.
Early life
Parajuly grew up in the
Gangtok,
Sikkim region of northeastern India. His father is an Indian Nepalese and his mother Nepalese.
He was educated at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and the University of Oxford.
Before committing to a writing career, he worked as an advertising executive at
The Village Voice.
Career
In September 2011, Parajuly became the youngest Indian author to be offered a two-book, multi-country deal. He was signed by Quercus.
He published his first book in 2012: a short story collection with the title
The Gurkha's Daughter: Stories.
Describing and dramatizing the experiences of the Nepalese people and the Nepalese diaspora, his debut book was shortlisted for the 2013 Dylan Thomas Prize
[ "Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist 2013 Announced" , Swansea University] and longlisted for The Story Prize that same year.
Parajuly's second book, the novel
Land Where I Flee, came out in 2013.
It was an
Independent on Sunday book of the year and a
Kansas City Star best book of 2015. It was translated and published in French in 2020 and was nominated the same year for the Debut Novel Prize and a finalist for the Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature.
He was the first writer-in-residence at The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in 2013. In 2016, Prajwal Parajuly was invited to be a judge for the Dylan Thomas Prize.
Prajwal Parajuly has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, the New Statesman and the BBC.
Works
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The Gurkha's Daughter, short story collection, released in December 2012.
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Land Where I Flee, novel, released in December 2013.
