Jhumpa Lahiri

Saint Louis University honored Jhumpa Lahiri with the 2026 St. Louis Literary Award in a ceremony on Wednesday, April 8, at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies, her debut story collection that explores issues of love and identity among immigrants and cultural transplants. With a compelling, universal fluency, Lahiri portrays the practical and emotional adversities of her diverse characters in elegant and direct prose.

Her acclaimed novels and short story collections include The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, The Lowland, and Roman Stories. She is also a translator, essayist, and editor of The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories. Lahiri’s work has been recognized with the PEN/Hemingway Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Humanities Medal, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Born in London to Bengali parents and raised in Rhode Island, Lahiri is the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Barnard College, Columbia University. She divides her time between New York and Italy.