Kiran Nagarkar _ Scholar in Residence - 2010/11

The Ithaca College Honors Program was very pleased to announce that the prominent Indian author Kiran Nagarkar would serve as the International Visiting Scholar in Honors for AY 2010/11. Generous support for this residence was being provided by the Scholar-in-Residence program of the Fulbright Commission. Additional support was provided by the Ithaca College School of Humanities and Sciences.

Kiran Nagarkar is an important novelist, playwright, critic, and screenwriter. Writing in both Marathi and English, he is widely considered to be one of the most significant writers in postcolonial India. His novels include Six Sevens are Forty Three (originally published in Marathi as Saat Sakkam Trechalis), Ravan and Eddie, Cuckold, and God’s Little Soldier. Cuckold was awarded the 2001 Sahitya Akademi Award, one of the subcontinent’s most prestigious literary prizes, by the Indian National Academy of Letters. In addition, Mr. Nagarkar has published highly regarded plays, screenplays, and works of criticism, a number of which have been the focus of heated political controversies. A resident of Bombay, Mr. Nagarkar is currently a fellow in the Artists-in-Berlin program of the German Academic Exchange Service.

While in residence at Ithaca College Mr. Nagrakar taught one seminar in the Honors Program each term. One focussed on his major literary works. A second focussed on experimental and progressive Indian cinema. The International Visiting Scholar fellowship also encouraged Mr. Nagarkar to pursue his literary career and visit throughout the United States.