imported>Aderiqueza at 12:33, 9 August 2021

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{{Infobox writer 
| name = Akhil Sharma
| image = Akhil Sharma 7271390.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Akhil Sharma
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|7|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Novelist, professor
| nationality =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater = [[Princeton University]] [[Stanford University]] [[J.P. Stevens High School]]
| period =
| genre =
| subjects =
| movement =
| notableworks = ''[[An Obedient Father]]'' (2000) ''[[Family Life (novel)|Family Life]]'' (2014)
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
| awards = [[Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award]] (2001) [[Folio Prize]] (2015) [[International Dublin Literary Award]] (2016)
| influences =
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| signature =
}}

'''Akhil Sharma''' (born July 22, 1971) is an [[Indian-American]] author and professor of creative writing. His first published novel ''[[An Obedient Father]]'' won the 2001 [[Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award]]. His second, ''[[Family Life (novel)|Family Life]]'', won the 2015 [[Folio Prize]] and 2016 [[International Dublin Literary Award]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Delhi, India]], he immigrated to the United States when he was eight,<ref>{{cite news|first=Philip|last=Maughan|title=The son also rises: Family Life by Akhil Sharma|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/05/son-also-rises-family-life-akhil-sharma|work=[[New Statesman]]|date=15 May 2014|accessdate=11 June 2016}}</ref> and grew up in [[Edison, New Jersey]], where he graduated from [[J.P. Stevens High School]].<ref>La Gorce, Tammy. [https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/an-immigrants-bittersweet-slice-of-life-in-edison/ "An Immigrant’s Bittersweet Slice of Life in Edison The thinly-veiled memoir tells the tale of an immigrant family who must cope with grief, doubt and life in America."], ''[[New Jersey Monthly]]'', March 6, 2014. Accessed January 18, 2020. "Sharma, 42, grew up in Edison, where he attended J.P. Stevens High School."</ref> Sharma described experiencing racism in school and in the city: "people cursing at us in the street, and being spat at at school."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/26/akhil-sharma-family-life-books-interview|title=Akhil Sharma: 'I feel as if I've shattered my youth on this book'|last=Wroe|first=Nicholas|date=2014-04-26|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref> Sharma's teenage brother was in a pool accident, that left him in a thirty-year coma, an incident that forms the basis of Sharma's semi-autobiographical novel, ''[[Family Life (novel)|Family Life]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lithub.com/akhil-sharma-on-writing-the-darker-side-of-indian-life/|title=Akhil Sharma on Writing the Darker Side of Indian Life {{!}} Literary Hub|website=lithub.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-12}}</ref> Sharma studied at [[Princeton University]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in public policy at the [[Woodrow Wilson School]]. While there, he also studied under a succession of notable writers, including [[Russell Banks]], [[Toni Morrison]], [[Joyce Carol Oates]], [[Paul Auster]], [[John McPhee]], and [[Tony Kushner]]. He then won a [[Stegner Fellowship]] to the writing program at [[Stanford]], where he won two [[O. Henry Award]]s (1995 and 1997).<ref>{{cite web|title=The O. Henry Prize Stories|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/ohenry/winners/past.html#jump_s|publisher=[[O. Henry Award]]|accessdate=11 June 2016}}</ref> He then attempted to become a screenwriter, but, disappointed with his fortunes, left to attend [[Harvard Law School]].

Sharma went on to become an assistant professor in the creative writing MFA program at [[Rutgers University-Newark]].<ref name=new>{{cite news|title=Profile: Akhil Sharma|url=http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/akhil-sharma|accessdate=11 June 2016|publisher=[[Rutgers University–Newark]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806190745/http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/akhil-sharma|archive-date=2016-08-06|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==
Sharma has published stories in ''[[The New Yorker]]'', ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'', ''[[The Quarterly]]'', ''[[Fiction]]'', the ''[[Best American Short Stories]]'' anthology, and the ''O. Henry Award Winners'' anthology. His short story "Cosmopolitan" was anthologized in ''[[The Best American Short Stories 1998]]'',<ref>[[Garrison Keillor|Keillor, Garrison]] (ed). ''The Best American Short Stories 1998.'' Houghton Mifflin, 1998. pp. 48–69.</ref> and was also made into a [[Cosmopolitan (film)|2003 film of the same name]], which has appeared on the [[PBS]] series ''[[Independent Lens]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=COSMOPOLITAN|url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/cosmopolitan/film.html|publisher=[[Independent Lens]]|accessdate=11 June 2016}}</ref>

Sharma's first novel was ''[[An Obedient Father]]'' for which he won the 2001 [[Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award]].<ref name=new/> Sharma's second novel, ''[[Family Life (novel)|Family Life]]'' was published by [[W. W. Norton & Company]] in the U.S. and [[Faber and Faber]] in the U.K. in April 2014. ''The New York Times'' described the [[semi-autobiographical]] novel as "deeply unnerving and gorgeously tender at its core.".<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/books/review/akhil-sharmas-family-life.html?_r=0 "The Repercussions"] by Sonali Deraniyagala, ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'', p. 1, April 6, 2014</ref> David Sedaris noted that "[e]very page is alive and surprising, proof of [Sharma’s] huge, unique talent." Sharma wrote about the 13 years it took to write ''Family Life'' in an essay on ''The New Yorker'''s website.<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/04/akhil-sharma-on-writing-family-life.html "A Novel Like a Rocket"], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', April 7, 2014.</ref> ''Family Life'' won the 2015 [[Folio Prize]] for fiction and the 2016 [[International Dublin Literary Award]].<ref>Mark Brown, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/23/akhil-sharma-wins-folio-prize-fiction-family-life Akhil Sharma wins Folio prize for fiction], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 March 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Akhil Sharma's Family Life wins International Dublin Literary Award|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36491013|accessdate=11 June 2016|work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

He shares office space with the writers [[John Wray (novelist)|John Wray]], Isaac Fitzgerald, and Alice Sola Kim.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/john-wray-godsend-camp-cedar-pines.html|title=How Novelist John Wray Made His Brooklyn Brownstone Into a Writers’ Clubhouse|last=Franklin|first=Ruth|work=Vulture|access-date=2018-10-29|language=en}}</ref> He and Wray had previously been part of an informal writing group that includes [[Gary Shteyngart]], [[Suketu Mehta]], and Ray Isle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32397/|title=And the Last Word Goes to...|website=NYMag.com|access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref>

In July, 2017, Norton published Sharma's collection of short stories, ''A Life of Adventure and Delight''.

==Bibliography==
{{Expand list|date=June 2016}}

===Fiction===
;Novels
* [[An Obedient Father]] (2000)
* [[Family Life (novel)|Family life]] (2014)

;Short stories
{|class='wikitable sortable' width='90%'
|-
!width=25%|Title
!|Year
!|First published
!|Reprinted/collected
!|Notes
|-
|The Blue Umbrella Man
|1990
|{{cite journal |author=Sharma, Akhil |date=Summer 1990 |title=The Blue Umbrella Man |journal=The Quarterly |issue= 14 |pages= 153 }}
|-
|Mother and Son
|2007
|{{cite journal |author=Sharma, Akhil |date=Spring 2007 |title=Mother and Son |journal=Granta |volume=97 |url=https://granta.com/mother-and-son/ }}
|
|''Granta'' 97 theme: 'Best of Young American Novelists 2'
|-
|We Didn't Like Him
|2013
|{{cite journal |author=Sharma, Akhil |date=June 3, 2013 |title=We Didn't Like Him |journal=The New Yorker |volume=89 |issue=16 |pages=56–61 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/we-didnt-like-him }}
|
|
|-
|A Life of Adventure and Delight
|2016
|Sharma, Akhil (May 16, 2016). "A Life of Adventure and Delight." The New Yorker.
|
|
|-
|}

===Non-fiction===
*{{cite journal |author=Sharma, Akhil |date=November 4, 2013 |title=Butter |department=Take Out |journal=The New Yorker |volume=89 |issue=35 |pages=55 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/11/04/butter-2 }}

==Awards and honours==
*2001 [[PEN/Hemingway Award]] winner for ''An Obedient Father''
*2001 [[Whiting Awards|Whiting Award]] winner for ''An Obedient Father''<ref>[http://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/akhil-sharma#/ Profile at The Whiting Foundation]</ref>
*2014 ''[[New York Magazine]]'' Ten Best Books of the Year selection for ''Family Life''<ref>"[http://www.vulture.com/2014/12/10-best-books-of-2014-lila-redeployment-family-life.html] The Ten Best Books of 2014," ''[[New York Magazine]]'', December 10, 2014.</ref>
*2014 [[New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year]] selection for ''Family Life'' <ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/books/review/the-10-best-books-of-2014.html The Ten Best Books of 2014]," ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 4, 2014.</ref>
*2015 [[Folio Prize]] winner for ''Family Life''
*2016 [[DSC Prize for South Asian Literature]] shortlist for ''Family Life''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dscprize.com/global/updates/dsc-prize-2016-announces-a-shortlist-of-6-novels.html |title=DSC Prize 2016 Finalists |date=26 November 2015 |accessdate=28 November 2015}}</ref>
*2016 [[International Dublin Literary Award]] for ''Family Life''

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{International Dublin Literary Award}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Akhil}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:American novelists of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winners]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:J. P. Stevens High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Edison, New Jersey]]
[[Category:The New Yorker people]]
[[Category:Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American short story writers of Asian descent]]
[[Category:American writers of Indian descent]]

Akhil Sharma - Revision history

imported>Aderiqueza at 12:33, 9 August 2021