Raj Kamal Jha
Encyclopedia
Raj Kamal Jha is an Indian novelist and journalist.
Jha was born in Bihar
and was raised in Calcutta, West Bengal
, where he went to school at St. Joseph's College, Calcutta
. He then attended the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur where he did his bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, (but perhaps more significantly, had his first brush with journalism as the editor of the campus magazine, Alankar, where his first short fiction appeared).
After graduating from IIT, he went to the Graduate School of Journalism
at the University of Southern California
, where he received his M.A. in 1990.
Jha was an Assistant Editor (News) at The Statesman
in Kolkata
, a Senior Associate Editor at India Today
, New Delhi, and since 1996 has been with The Indian Express
first as Deputy Editor, then as Executive Editor. He is now Managing Editor. He lives in Gurgaon
.
The Indian Express has thrice won the Vienna-based International Press Institute's award for Excellence in Journalism in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Its journalists have won several national and international awards.
Jha is the author of three published novels.
His first novel, The Blue Bedspread won the 2000 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
for Best First Book (Eurasia region) and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
His second novel If You Are Afraid of Heights was a finalist for the Hutch-Crossword Book Award in 2003. He has also been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
and the Guardian First Book Award.
His third novel, Fireproof, debuted in German at the Frankfurt Book Fair
in October 2006 (published by Goldmann). It was published to wide critical acclaim by Picador in India in December and in the UK in February 2007. Actes Sud published it in French in 2008.
Set against the backdrop of the 2002 Gujarat violence
, the first attack on Muslims (In retaliation of attacks on Karsevaks in Godhra) after 9/11, the novel is a chilling, magical tale of a father and his deformed son on a journey across a city where the ghosts of those killed have decided to seek justice.
Jha's fiction is known for its stark simplicity and ability to evoke emotion through attention to detail. John Fowles
described The Blue Bedspread as the "Coming of age of the Indian novel."
Commenting on his latest book, India Today
said: "Here is a chronicle for the 21st century, then, a bildungsroman that tracks the education of the crime-infested soul, completed when the soul cries 'I am guilty' and acknowledges that the burden of this enormous guilt will darken the rest of his life. And that will be his punishment, not the release of the noose or of public abasement in prison."
His fiction is strongly grounded in contemporary Indian themes around change, often taking off from newspaper pages. From domestic violence to the urban-rural divide and, in his latest novel, mass violence and communal tension, Jha's books engage with disturbing subjects unusual in contemporary writing in English but capture those realities of India that escape the mainstream media. His writing, simple as it appears, often calls for a lot of reader participation which evokes sharp, divided reaction.
Jha's fiction has been translated into more than a dozen European languages, including French, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Spanish and Finnish. His short stories have appeared in French and German anthologies as well. His work has been featured in several international literary festivals, including Hay-on-Wye, Munich Writers' Festival, Melbourne Writers' Festival and the Los Angeles Times Book Festival.
Japanese video artist and photographer Noritoshi Hirakawa
created four video installations taking scenes from Jha's three novels for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi in 2007 as part of a special exhibition of contemporary Japanese art called Vanishing Points. All actors in these video films were from India.
Jha was recently a visiting professor at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley
where he taught a course on reporting on India. He was also a fellow at the Yaddo
Residency in Saratoga Springs, New York
, in 2005.
Jha was born in Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
and was raised in Calcutta, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, where he went to school at St. Joseph's College, Calcutta
St. Joseph's College, Calcutta
St Joseph's College, Calcutta is located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India providing school education under the ICSE/ISC school system.One of the premier institutions of learning in Kolkata, SJC carries on a century old tradition of the Congregation of Christian Brothers way of life.The school's...
. He then attended the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur where he did his bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering, (but perhaps more significantly, had his first brush with journalism as the editor of the campus magazine, Alankar, where his first short fiction appeared).
After graduating from IIT, he went to the Graduate School of Journalism
USC Annenberg School for Communication
The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism comprises a School ofCommunication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California . It is led by Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, Ph.D....
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, where he received his M.A. in 1990.
Jha was an Assistant Editor (News) at The Statesman
The Statesman
The Statesman is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper founded in 1875 and published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneswar. The Statesman is owned by The Statesman Ltd., its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national...
in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, a Senior Associate Editor at India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
, New Delhi, and since 1996 has been with The Indian Express
The Indian Express
The Indian Express is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is published in Mumbai by Indian Express Group. After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking the name The New Indian Express, while the old...
first as Deputy Editor, then as Executive Editor. He is now Managing Editor. He lives in Gurgaon
Gurgaon
Gurgaon is the second largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. Gurgaon is the industrial and financial center of Haryana. It is located 30 km south of national capital New Delhi, about 10 kilometers from Dwarka Sub City and 268 km south of Chandigarh, the state capital...
.
The Indian Express has thrice won the Vienna-based International Press Institute's award for Excellence in Journalism in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Its journalists have won several national and international awards.
Jha is the author of three published novels.
His first novel, The Blue Bedspread won the 2000 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
for Best First Book (Eurasia region) and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
His second novel If You Are Afraid of Heights was a finalist for the Hutch-Crossword Book Award in 2003. He has also been shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom...
and the Guardian First Book Award.
His third novel, Fireproof, debuted in German at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. As to the number of visitors, the Turin Book Fair attracts about as many visitors, viz. some 300,000....
in October 2006 (published by Goldmann). It was published to wide critical acclaim by Picador in India in December and in the UK in February 2007. Actes Sud published it in French in 2008.
Set against the backdrop of the 2002 Gujarat violence
2002 Gujarat violence
The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
, the first attack on Muslims (In retaliation of attacks on Karsevaks in Godhra) after 9/11, the novel is a chilling, magical tale of a father and his deformed son on a journey across a city where the ghosts of those killed have decided to seek justice.
Jha's fiction is known for its stark simplicity and ability to evoke emotion through attention to detail. John Fowles
John Fowles
John Robert Fowles was an English novelist and essayist. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Fowles among their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Birth and family:...
described The Blue Bedspread as the "Coming of age of the Indian novel."
Commenting on his latest book, India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
said: "Here is a chronicle for the 21st century, then, a bildungsroman that tracks the education of the crime-infested soul, completed when the soul cries 'I am guilty' and acknowledges that the burden of this enormous guilt will darken the rest of his life. And that will be his punishment, not the release of the noose or of public abasement in prison."
His fiction is strongly grounded in contemporary Indian themes around change, often taking off from newspaper pages. From domestic violence to the urban-rural divide and, in his latest novel, mass violence and communal tension, Jha's books engage with disturbing subjects unusual in contemporary writing in English but capture those realities of India that escape the mainstream media. His writing, simple as it appears, often calls for a lot of reader participation which evokes sharp, divided reaction.
Jha's fiction has been translated into more than a dozen European languages, including French, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Spanish and Finnish. His short stories have appeared in French and German anthologies as well. His work has been featured in several international literary festivals, including Hay-on-Wye, Munich Writers' Festival, Melbourne Writers' Festival and the Los Angeles Times Book Festival.
Japanese video artist and photographer Noritoshi Hirakawa
Noritoshi Hirakawa
is a Japanese contemporary artist, film maker, and film producer. Hirakawa works in a variety of media including photography, performance and installation. He was born in 1960 in Fukuoka, Japan and now lives and works in New York....
created four video installations taking scenes from Jha's three novels for an exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi in 2007 as part of a special exhibition of contemporary Japanese art called Vanishing Points. All actors in these video films were from India.
Jha was recently a visiting professor at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
where he taught a course on reporting on India. He was also a fellow at the Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
Residency in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
, in 2005.
Works
- 2006-7: Fireproof, novel
- 2006: "Zwischen den Welten" Short fiction in a German anthology
- 2003: If You Are Afraid of Heights, novel
- 2001: The Blue Bedspread, novel
External links
- SAJA biography
- Biography
- USC Alumni Magazine
- Long Interview on the blog Jabberwock
- On If You Are Afraid of Heights
- 2003 Profile
- On Fireproof
- Review in Himal, Kathmandu
- Jha's Gujarat column
- Jha's column on the murder of engineer Dubey
- Amit Chaudhuri on Jha in London Review of Books
- Jha on journalism in Columbia Journalism Review
- The Indian Express newspaper