A Conversation With Jhumpa Lahiri

Now What? With Carole Zimmer

Writer Jhumpa Lahiri grew up in Rhode Island after her family emigrated from India when she was a toddler. Her first language was Bengali and she spoke English in school. When she was 32, Lahiri won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her first book Interpreter of Maladies. It was an honor but it also put a lot of pressure on her as a writer. Then Lahiri fell in love with the Italian language and when she moved to Rome, she discovered a kind of freedom. Now, Lahiri writes her books in Italian. Her latest work of fiction is called Roman Stories. We talk about identity, culture and what it’s like to live between 2 different worlds. “Now What?” is produced with the help of Steve Zimmer, Lucy Little and Jackie Schwartz. Audio production is by Nick Ciavatta.