Jump to content

Aanchal Malhotra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aanchal Malhotra
: Malhotra at a panel discussion at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024
Born1990 (age 33–34)
New Delhi, India
OccupationAuthor
Alma materOntario College of Art & Design; Concordia University
GenreIndian history
Notable works
  • The Book of Everlasting Things (2022)
  • In the Language of Remembering (2022)
  • Remnants of a Separation (2017)
  • Remnants of Partition (2019)
Website
aanchalmalhotra.com

Aanchal Malhotra (born 1990) is an Indian author, oral historian, and artist known for her works on the Partition of India. Her research and writings focus on the oral histories of individuals affected by the Partition, capturing their memories and the tangible remnants of that period.

She is the author of the critically acclaimed books "Remnants of a Separation" and "In the Language of Remembering.

Life[edit]

Aanchal Malhotra was born in New Delhi, India, in 1990. She received a BFA degree in traditional printmaking and art history from Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, where she won the University Medal and Sir Edmund Walker Award for Graduate Studies. She completed a MFA in Studio Art from Concordia University, Montréal.

She belongs to the family of Bahrisons booksellers, founded by her paternal grandfather, Balraj Bahri, in 1953 in New Delhi.[1] She continues to live and work in New Delhi. She remains actively engaged in her research and artistic endeavors, contributing to academic conferences, workshops, and public lectures. Her commitment to documenting and understanding the past through personal narratives and material culture continues to inspire new generations of historians and artists.

Oral History Projects

In addition to her books, she has been involved in several oral history projects. She co-founded the Museum of Material Memory, a digital repository that archives personal histories and material culture from the Indian subcontinent. This project has created a valuable platform for preserving and sharing stories that might otherwise be forgotten.[2]

Artistic Work

As an artist, she has exhibited her work internationally. Her art often intersects with her historical research, using multimedia installations to explore themes of memory, migration, and identity. Her printmaking and book arts background are evident in her meticulous and evocative visual storytelling.[3]

Recognition and Impact

Malhotra's work has garnered significant recognition for its contribution to the understanding of the Partition and its lasting impacts. She has been praised for her empathetic approach and her ability to bring personal histories to the forefront of historical discourse. Her work has been featured in various national and international media, highlighting the importance of remembering and preserving oral histories.[4]

Writing Life[edit]

Aanchal Malhotra's debut book Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory[5] was published by HarperCollins India in 2017, to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian independence. The project (under the same name) initially began as her MFA dissertation at Concordia University, Montréal, and included field research in India, Pakistan and England.[6] It is an attempt to revisit the Partition through personal and intimate objects that refugees carried with them across the border during their migration.[7][8][9] Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, it details the material culture of the Partition of India. It was named a Hindustan Times "India @ 70" book[10][11] and shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Award, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, and Hindu Lit for Life Non Fiction Prize.

Outside the subcontinent, it was published under the title Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided, by Hurst Publishers in 2019.[12] It was shortlisted by the British Academy for the 2019 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.[13][14]

For the 75th anniversary of the Partition in 2022, Malhotra published a follow-up, In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, which focused on the contemporary relevance of the Partition in the everyday lives of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis.[15][16] Her debut novel, The Book of Everlasting Things, was also published in 2022.[17]

Writing[edit]

Books[edit]

  1. The Book of Everlasting Things (December 2022)[6]
  2. In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition (2022)[10]
  3. Remnants of a Separation: A History of Partition through Material Memory (2017) [12]
  4. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided (2019)[12]

Awards and Recognition[edit]

Remnants of Partition & Remnants of Separation

  • A Hindustan TImes "INDIA @ 70"  BOOK[18]
  • Winner Literary Prize of The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Indienne 2024[19]
  • Council for Museum Anthropology Book Prize 2022[20]
  • Valley of Words Prize for Hindi Translation[21]
  • Shortlisted For British Academy Book Prize, Oxford Book Cover Prize, Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, Shakti Bhatt First Book Award, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, Hindu Lit for Life Non Fiction Prize
  • Longlisted Tata Literature Live! First Book Award[22]


In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition

  • History Today’s Best Books of the Year, 2022, GQ’s Top 10 Indian Non-Fiction Books, 2022[23]
  • Runner Up Publishing Next Printed Book of the Year (English), 2022
  • Longlisted Karwaan Book Award, 2023


The Book of Everlasting Things

  • An NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2022
  • BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH on ABC News, Good Morning America, USA Today,
  • Christian Science Monitor, Ms. Magazine, BookRiot, PopSugar, The A.V. Club

Anthologies[edit]

  1. The Book of Dog (HarperCollins India, 2022)[24]
  2. Our Freedoms: Essays and Stories from India's best writers (Juggernaut, 2021)[25]
  3. India at 70: Multidisciplinary Approaches (Routledge, 2019)[26]
  4. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research (University of California Press, 2019) [27]
  5. Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On (Orient Black Swan, 2017) [28]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (11 April 2015). "How Bahrisons Delhi has been romancing books since 1953". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. ^ Sharma, Himini (23 July 2019). "The Precious Past". The Citizen.
  3. ^ harperbroadcast (11 April 2022). "In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, by Aanchal Malhotra". HarperCollins Publishers India Books, Novels, Authors and Reviews. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ "5 female writers who celebrate womanhood and champion individuality through their works". Harper Bazar. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  5. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (2017). Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory. HarperCollins. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-9352770120.
  6. ^ a b "The stories objects tell: What survivors of the Partition of India took with them". CBC. 15 November 2019.
  7. ^ Sridhar, Lalitha (2 December 2017). "Tangible memories: Tales through objects from across the bloodied border". The Hindu.
  8. ^ Jhurani, Aarti (18 August 2019). "Five heart-wrenching books that explore the partition of India". The National.
  9. ^ Sanyal, Devapriya (October 2019). "Book review: Remnants of a separation". Contemporary South Asia. 27 (4): 564. doi:10.1080/09584935.2019.1689670.
  10. ^ a b "India @ 70: 5 books that capture India's freedom struggle, independence and partition". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  11. ^ Parkar, Hamida. (September 23, 2018)."Ambassadors of a Journey, Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c "Nonfiction Book Review: Remnants of Partition". Publishers Weekly.
  13. ^ "Historian Aanchal Malhotra's book shortlisted for British Academy's Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize". Scroll.in. 10 September 2019.
  14. ^ McKie, Anna (24 October 2019). "Interview with Aanchal Malhotra". Times Higher Education.
  15. ^ "Writing › In the Language of Remembering". Aanchal Malhotra. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  16. ^ Jalil, Rakhshanda (10 June 2022). "Review of Aanchal Malhotra's In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition: Conversations about memories". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Book Review: The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra". www.publishersweekly.com. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  18. ^ "India @ 70: 5 books that capture India's freedom struggle, independence and partition". Hindustan Times.
  19. ^ "Literary Prize 2024 from La Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Indienne". Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco Indienne.
  20. ^ "Council for Museum Anthropology Book Award". Council for Museum Anthropology. 3 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Winners of the 'Valley of Words' Book Awards Announced". The Wire. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  22. ^ Staff, Scroll. "Sujatha Gidla and Janice Pariat on the longlists of the Tata Literature Live Awards". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  23. ^ Khan, Arman (29 December 2022). "Top 10 Indian non-fiction books of 2022". GQ India. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  24. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (2022). Sodhi, Hemali (ed.). The book of dog. Gurugram, Haryana: HarperCollins Publishers India. ISBN 978-93-5489-356-8.
  25. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (2021). Roy, Nilanjana S. (ed.). Our freedoms: essays and stories from India's best writers. New Delhi, India: Juggernaut. pp. 10–15. ISBN 978-93-5345-145-5.
  26. ^ Maxey, Ruth; McGarr, Paul M., eds. (2020). India at 70: multidisciplinary approaches. Routledge studies in modern history. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-65177-5.
  27. ^ "Departures in Critical Qualitative Research". dcqr.scholasticahq.com. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  28. ^ Jalil, Rakhshanda; Saint, Tarun K.; Sengupta, Debjani, eds. (2017). Looking back: the 1947 Partition of India, 70 years on (1st ed.). Hyderabad, Telangana, India: Orient BlackSwan. ISBN 978-93-86689-56-6. OCLC 1005362462.

Further reading[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aanchal_Malhotra&oldid=1227775104"