Photo: librairie mollat / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jhumpa Lahiri is, in my view, one of the bravest writers alive. Winning the Pulitzer with her debut collection would have been enough for most, yet she later abandoned the comfort of English to write in Italian, an act of artistic self-exile I find astonishing. Her prose handles the quiet ache of immigrant identity with a restraint that lesser writers would oversell. What moves me most is not the shelf of awards but her willingness to dismantle her own mastery and start over in a borrowed tongue. That refusal to coast marks her, for me, as a writer of rare and uncompromising integrity.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jhumpa Lahiri
- Name (Japanese)
- ジュンパ・ラヒリ
- Reading
- じゅんぱ・らひり
- Born
- July 11, 1967 (age 58)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Goat
- Origin
- London, Roman Empire
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- novelist / author / university teacher / actor / screenwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- South Kingstown High School
- University
- Boston University
Awards & achievements
- 2002 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- 1999 O. Henry Award
- 2000 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award
- 2014 National Humanities Medal
- 2015 Viareggio-Versilia International Prize
- 2009 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature
- 2009 Asian American Literary Awards
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Interpreter of Maladies | — | |
| Notable work | The Namesake | — | |
| Notable work | The Lowland | — |
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.jhumpalahiri.net/
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A5%E3%83%B3%E3%83%91%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%92%E3%83%AA
Frequently asked questions
When was Jhumpa Lahiri born?
Born July 11, 1967 (age 58).
Where is Jhumpa Lahiri from?
Jhumpa Lahiri is from London, Roman Empire.
What does Jhumpa Lahiri do?
Jhumpa Lahiri works as novelist, author, university teacher, actor, screenwriter.
What is Jhumpa Lahiri known for?
Notable works include Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, The Lowland.
Novelist — see all → · Author — see all → · More people from Roman Empire →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-18
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.