Born Nilanjana Sudeshna to Bengali Indian immigrants in London, Jhumpa Lahiri moved with her family to the United States when she was three years old. She grew up in Kingston, Rhode Island, and earned a BA in English literature from Barnard College in 1989. She went on to earn an MA in English, an MFA in Creative Writing, an MA in Comparative Literature, and a PhD in Renaissance Studies from Boston University. From 1997-98, she held a fellowship at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center.
In 1999, Lahiri published her first short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies. It explored the experiences of Indians or Indian immigrants, including the generation gaps in understanding and values....
