(Resources for journalists, reporters, and the general media. For ongoing media coverage, please go here. For Desi Books press and press kit, go here.)

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BIO
Jenny Bhatt is a writer, literary translator, book critic, and the founder of Desi Books, a global forum for showcasing South Asian literature from the world over. She teaches creative writing at Writing Workshops Dallas and the PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship Program.
Her debut story collection, Each of Us Killers: Stories (7.13 Books; Sep 2020) won a 2020 Foreword INDIES award in the Short Stories category and was a finalist in the Multicultural Adult Fiction category. Her literary translation, Ratno Dholi: Dhumketu’s Best Short Stories (HarperCollins India; Oct 2020), was shortlisted for the 2021 PFC-VoW Book Awards for English Translation from Regional Languages. One of her short stories was included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. The US version of her Dhumketu translation, The Shehnai Virtuoso and Other Stories, was out in July 2022.
Her nonfiction has been published in various venues including NPR, The Washington Post, BBC Culture, The Atlantic, Publishers Weekly, Dallas Morning News, Literary Hub, Poets & Writers, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Star Tribune, and more.
UPCOMING: Her translation of Jhaverchand Meghani’s best folktales will be out in 2023 with Pan Macmillan India. She has a story scheduled to be published in a 2023 anthology, South to South: Writing South Asia in the American South. And her translation of the celebrated Gujarati writer Varsha Adalja’s award-winning novel, Crossroad, will be out in early 2024.
She resides in the Dallas, Texas area. Find her at https://jennybhattwriter.com. Sign up for her popular, free, weekly newsletter, We Are All Translators.
DISCUSSION TOPICS / STORY IDEAS
[These are possible topics for discussion with media venues; the links point to essays and articles I’ve published over the years on these topics.]
- South Asian literature
- Desi Books founded by me (also see Desi Books press coverage)
- Various book reviews and reading lists
- Moving Beyond Stereotypes in South Asian Literature. Publishers Weekly. December 2021.
- A Personal Anthology of 12 Work-themed Stories by Writers of South Asian Origin. A Personal Anthology by Jonathan Gibbs. March 2021
- 10 Novels About Working Lives in India. Electric Literature. September 2020
- Why we should never give up our quest to find (or write) the Great Indian Novel. Scroll.in. August 2018
- API Heritage Month: Audiobook Recommendations. Libro.FM. May, 2020
- #BalanceForBetter: A Short Reading List for International Women’s Day 2019. Scroll.in. March 2019
- “After ‘Dunkirk’, A Starter List of 10 Engaging Books (and a Bonus) on India’s Role in the Great Wars.” Scroll.in. August 2017.
- South Asian literature in translation
- Desi Books, founded by me (also see Desi Books press coverage)
- Writing and translating craft
- ‘We Are All Translators’ Newsletter
- An Introduction to Writing Historical Fiction by Jenny Bhatt. Writing Workshops Dallas Blog. May 2022
- Writers Recommend: Jenny Bhatt Recommends . . . Poets & Writers. October 2020
- Craft Capsule: The Writer’s Mind on Music. Poets & Writers. October 2020
- Craft Capsule: Revising Folktales and Myths. Poets & Writers. October 2020
- Craft Capsule: We Are All Translators. Poets & Writers. September 2020
- Craft Capsule: The Art of Literary Criticism. Poets & Writers. September 2020
- Images as Writing Prompts. Writing Workshops Dallas Blog. April 2020
- Short Stories column at PopMatters (2018-2020)
- The writing and translating life
- ‘We Are All Translators’ Newsletter
- A Year in Reading: Jenny Bhatt. The Millions. December 2020
- Reading to Each Other, a Woman in Mumbai and a Man in Dallas Turned Their Talks Into Marriage. The Dallas Morning News. September 2020
- Music Playlist for Each of Us Killers. Largehearted Boy. September 2020
- On Books and Their Harbors: Public Libraries. Kenyon Review Online. September 2020
- The Unexpected Politics of Book Cover Design. Literary Hub. September 2020
- Emerging As a Writer — After 40. Longreads. November 2018
- But Let Us Cultivate Our Garden. The Millions. November 2018
- 20 Debut Works of Fiction by Women Over 40. Literary Hub. November 2018
- “Your Most Formative Literary Passages.” The Atlantic. October 2016
- The art and craft of literary criticism
- Ongoing book reviews and reading lists
- Quarterly issues Desi Books Review
- Craft Capsule: The Art of Literary Criticism. Poets & Writers. September 2020
- Founding and running a media startup
PUBLICATIONS
Published Books
Works in anthologies
Books/Anthologies in progress
All other publications
FAQs (incl. a translator Q&A)
Download a translator Q&A about The Shehnai Virtuoso and Other Stories by Dhumketu (tr. Jenny Bhatt)
For other questions, please use the contact form below for a quick response.
ONGOING MEDIA COVERAGE
Please click here for all ongoing reviews, interviews, and media mentions.
ONGOING SPEAKING APPEARANCES
Please click here for all ongoing media events.