Wikipedia

Pankaj Mishra

Pankaj MishraFRSL(born 9 February 1969) is an Indian essayist, novelist, and socialist. His non-fiction works includeTemptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond,along withFrom the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia,andA Great Clamour: Encounters with China and Its Neighbours,and he has published two novels. He is a prolific contributor to periodicals such asThe Guardian,The New York Times,The New Yorkerand theNew York Review of Booksand was previously aBloomberg Opinioncolumnist[1].His writings have led to a number of controversies, including disputes withSalil Tripathi,Niall FergusonandJordan Peterson.He was awarded theWindham–Campbell Prizefor non-fiction in 2014 and the Weston International Award in 2024.[2][3]

Pankaj Mishra
FRSL
Mishra inLeipzig,March 2014
Born(1969-02-09)9 February 1969(age 56)
Jhansi,Uttar Pradesh,India
Alma materJawaharlal Nehru University
University of Allahabad
Known forThe Romantics
From the Ruins of Empire
Age of Anger
Awards2000 Art Seidenbaum award for Best First Fiction
2013Crossword Book Award(nonfiction)
2014Windham–Campbell Literature Prize

Websitepankajmishra

Early life and education

edit

Mishra was born inJhansi,India. His father was AK Mishra a PWI in Indian railway and trade unionist after his family had been left impoverished bypost-independence land redistribution.[4][5]

Mishra graduated with abachelor's degreein commerce from theUniversity of Allahabadbefore earning hisMaster of Artsdegree inEnglish literatureatJawaharlal Nehru Universityin New Delhi.[6]

Career

edit

In 1992, Mishra moved toMashobra,aHimalayanvillage, where he began to contribute literary essays and reviews toThe Indian Review of Books,The India Magazine,and the newspaperThe Pioneer.His first book,Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India(1995), was a travelogue that described the social and cultural changes in India in the context of globalization. His novelThe Romantics(2000), an ironic tale of people longing for fulfilment in cultures other than their own, was published in 11 European languages and won theLos Angeles TimesArt Seidenbaum award for first fiction.This novel, with some autobiographical strains, is abildungsroman.The narrative begins with the nineteen-year-old protagonist Samar coming to the city ofVaranasifromAllahabad.A large part of the novel, including its end, is set in Varanasi. Gradually, Samar realizes that the city is a site for mystery.[7]

Mishra's bookAn End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World(2004) mixes memoir, history, and philosophy while attempting to explore theBuddha's relevance to contemporary times.Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond(2006), describes Mishra's travels throughKashmir,Bollywood,Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, and other parts ofSouthand Central Asia. Responding inThe Guardianto an article by Mishra in connection with this work,Salil Tripathicriticised Mishra's defence of Indian and Chinese economic policies from the period 1950–80, claiming that they had stifled economic growth.[8]Mishra's 2012 book,From the Ruins of Empire,examines the question of "how to find a place of dignity for oneself in this world created by the West, in which the West and its allies in the non-West had reserved the best positions for themselves."[9]

Mishra has written literary and political essays forThe New York Times,where he was a Bookends columnist,The New York Review of Books,The Guardian,theLondon Review of Books,andThe New Yorker,among other publications. He is a columnist forBloomberg ViewandThe New York Times Book Review.His work has also appeared inForeign Affairs,Foreign Policy,The Boston Globe,Common Knowledge,theFinancial Times,Granta,The Independent,The New Republic,theNew Statesman,The Wall Street Journal,n+1,The Nation,Outlook,Poetry,Timemagazine,The Times Literary Supplement,Travel + Leisure,andThe Washington Post.He divides his time between London and India, and is currently working on a novel.[6]

He was the Visiting Fellow for 2007–08 at the Department of English,University College London,UK. He was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literaturein 2008.[10]In November 2012,Foreign Policymagazine named him one of the top 100 global thinkers.[11]In February 2015,Prospectnominated him to its list of 50 World Thinkers.[12]

In 2011,Niall Fergusonthreatened to sue Mishra for libel after Mishra published a review of his bookCivilisation: The West and the Restin theLondon Review of Books.Ferguson claimed that Mishra accused him of racism.[13][14]

In March 2014,Yale Universityawarded Mishra theWindham–Campbell Literature Prize.[2]

In an article published on 19 March 2018 in theNew York Review of Bookstitled "Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism", Mishra wrote that Canadian clinical psychologist and authorJordan Peterson's activities with Charles Joseph, a native member of the coastal PacificKwakwakaʼwakwtribe in Canada, "...may seem the latest in a long line of eggheads pretentiously but harmlessly romancing the noble savage."[15]Peterson perceived Mishra's use of the phrase "romancing the noble savage" as a racist insult to his friend Joseph, and his response viaTwitter,which included a threat of violence to Mishra, went viral.[16]

Run and Hide,Mishra's first novel in 20 years, was published in 2022 to a generally positive reception,[17][18][19]withAllan MassieinThe Scotsmanconcluding: "This is a wonderfully rich and enjoyable novel. It is very much, and disturbingly, of our time.... Intellect, observation memory, sympathy and imagination are all happily here. The novel can be read quickly for sheer pleasure. It is a work for our time and one that will surely be read many years on for what will then be its historical interest. So: a novel built to last."[20][21]

Personal life

edit

Mishra married Mary Mount, a London book editor, in 2005.[22]She is daughter of the writer SirFerdinand Mount,3rd Baronet, and a cousin of formerPrime Minister of the United KingdomDavid Cameron.[23][24][25]Mishra has been critical of Cameron's politics[26]and has stated "It may seem to people like we're having dinner together practically every night, but I've never met the man; my wife has met him once in her life. Neither of us share his politics", calling Cameron "a ghastly figure".[27]

Awards and recognition

edit

Bibliography

edit

Books

edit
  • Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India(1995)
  • The Romantics(2000)
  • An End to Suffering: the Buddha in the World(2004)
  • India in Mind,edited by Pankaj Mishra (2005)
  • Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond(2006)
  • From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia(2012)
  • A Great Clamour: Encounters with China and Its Neighbours(2013)
  • Age of Anger: A History of the Present(2017),ISBN9780374274788
  • Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race, and Empire(2020),ISBN9780374293314
  • Run and Hide(2022),ISBN9780374607524
  • The World After Gaza(2025),ISBN9798217058891

Book chapters

edit

Essays and reporting

edit

Public lecture

edit

Book reviews

edit
Year Review article Work(s) reviewed
2007 Mishra, Pankaj (28 June 2007). "Impasse in India".The New York Review of Books.54(11):48–51. Nussbaum, Martha(2007).The clash within: democracy, religious violence, and India's future.Belknap Press/Harvard University Press.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^Mishra, Pankaj.The World After Gaza: A History.Second footnote of the introduction.ISBN9798217058891.
  2. ^ab"Indian Writer Pankaj Mishra wins Yale literary Prize for 2014".IANS.news.biharprabha. 10 March 2014.Retrieved10 March2014.
  3. ^"2024-award".westoninternationalaward.Retrieved8 October2024.
  4. ^Schuessler, Jennifer (27 August 2012)."Pankaj Mishra's New Book, 'Ruins of Empire'".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved21 May2019.
  5. ^Mishra, Pankaj (4 February 2006)."Pankaj Mishra: The East was Red".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved21 May2019.
  6. ^abPankaj Mishra website.
  7. ^Mishra, Rajnish (2015). "Psychogeography and the Kashi Texts".Literaria Linguistica: A Journal of Research in Literature, Linguistics and Language Teaching.1(1): 63.ISSN2454-5228.
  8. ^"Escaping the 'Hindu rate of growth'".The Guardian.13 June 2006.Retrieved11 January2023.
  9. ^Sawhney, Hirsh (10 December 2012)."In Conversation".The Brooklyn Rail.Retrieved2 August2013.
  10. ^"Royal Society of Literature All Fellows".Royal Society of Literature. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2010.Retrieved10 August2010.
  11. ^"The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers".Foreign Policy.26 November 2012.
  12. ^"World Thinkers 2015".Prospect.
  13. ^Harris, Paul (4 May 2013)."Niall Ferguson apologises for anti-gay remarks towards John Maynard Keynes".The Observer.Retrieved4 May2013.
  14. ^Mishra, Pankaj (3 November 2011)."Watch this man".London Review of Books.33(21).Retrieved3 November2011.
  15. ^Mishra, Pankaj (19 March 2018)."Jordan Peterson & Fascist Mysticism".The New York Review.
  16. ^Malik, Nesrine(23 March 2018)."Sorry, Jordan Peterson: rage isn't a great look for a self-help guru".The Guardian.
  17. ^Chakraborty, Abhrajyoti (14 February 2022)."Run and Hide by Pankaj Mishra review – new India, old ideas".The Guardian.
  18. ^Parakala, Vangmayi (19 February 2022)."The return of Pankaj Mishra, the novelist".Mint Lounge.Retrieved17 March2022.
  19. ^Tandon, Bharat (4 March 2022)."Caste away".TLS.Retrieved17 March2022.
  20. ^Massie, Allan (24 February 2022)."Book review: Run And Hide, by Pankaj Mishra".The Scotsman.
  21. ^Cook, Jude (19 February 2022)."Inside New India: Run and Hide, by Pankaj Mishra, reviewed".The Spectator.Retrieved17 March2022.
  22. ^Schuessler, Jennifer (28 August 2012)."New Book in Battle Over East vs. West".The New York Times.
  23. ^Schuessler, Jennifer (27 August 2012)."New Book in Battle Over East vs. West".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved3 April2023.
  24. ^Merchant, Minhaz."A storm in a literary cup".The Times of India.ISSN0971-8257.Retrieved3 April2023.
  25. ^Schuessler, Jennifer (27 August 2012)."New Book in Battle Over East vs. West".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved9 February2022.
  26. ^Mishra, Pankaj (17 January 2019)."Opinion | The Malign Incompetence of the British Ruling Class".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved3 April2023.
  27. ^"The Village Interview: Pankaj Mishra".14 March 2017.
  28. ^"The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction".Los Angeles Times.
  29. ^"'Popular choice' ruled at book awards ".The Times of India.7 December 2013.Retrieved7 December2013.
  30. ^"Book prize for Indian historian".DE magazine Deutschland.26 March 2014.
  31. ^"Prize Citation for Pankaj Mishra".Windham–Campbell Literature Prize. 7 March 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 1 April 2017.Retrieved8 March2014.
  32. ^"José María Ridao guanya el cinquè premi internacional d'assaig Josep Palau i Fabre".Ara(in Catalan). 28 February 2014.
  33. ^"2024-award".westoninternationalaward.Retrieved8 October2024.
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toPankaj Mishra.
Wikiquote has quotations related toPankaj Mishra.
Reviews and articles
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pankaj_Mishra&oldid=1276022942"