Jhumpa Lahiri in Conversation
‘She has a talent – magical, sly, cumulative – that most writers would kill for’
In an exclusive broadcast, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author discusses her latest novel, Whereabouts, a haunting portrait of a woman on the cusp of change.
Tracing the steps, observations and conversations of a woman in a beautiful and lonely Italian city, Whereabouts is a dazzling evocation of a place.
Between the bright pavements and bridges, a mother consumed by her own grief and a train station filled with the promise of being spirited away, Lahiri draws us into the intimate inner world of a woman caught between the past and the possibility of transformation.
One day at the sea, both overwhelmed and replenished by the sun's vital heat, her perspective will change forever.
A work of rare artistry, Whereabouts – first written in Italian and then translated by the author herself – brims with the impulse to transcend boundaries.
Through this remarkable feat of translation and artistry, Lahiri’s distinctive sensibility has taken on still more expansive dimensions.
Join Jhumpa Lahiri for a rare virtual appearance as we celebrate her latest work of fiction.
In this exclusive event, Lahiri reads from and reflects on Whereabouts, and takes us through the journey of translating it herself.
Lahiri is in conversation with Thea Lenarduzzi, writer, podcaster and commissioning editor at the Times Literary Supplement.
Jhumpa Lahiri’s debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize, among other plaudits, and became an international bestseller.
Her first novel, The Namesake, and second collection, Unaccustomed Earth, were both named book of the year by multiple publications. Her most recent book is her second novel, The Lowland.
Thea Lenarduzzi is a writer, editor, podcast host and winner of the 2020 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. She is working on Dandelions, a family story of Italian-English ties, to be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
This event is pre-recorded exclusively for the Southbank Centre.
‘A fine writer, discriminating, compassionate and surprising’
‘Lahiri joins the ranks of those whose work goes further and illuminates human nature in general’
Need to know
For ages 16+
This broadcast is Captioned.
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Copies of Whereabouts are available for £14.99. The books are sent out by Foyles via post (postage is included in the price).
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First broadcast: available from 7.30pm on Thu 6 May and for seven days on demand.
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