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Aanchal Malhotra

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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 oral historian, author and artist, known for her work 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.

Biography[edit]

Aanchal Malhotra was born in New Delhi, India, in 1990, where she continues to live and work. 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 the 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]

Oral History Projects

In addition to her books, she has been involved in several oral history projects and is an advisor to a peace initiative called Project Dastaan. In 2017, she co-founded the Museum of Material Memory[2], a crowdsourced digital repository tracing family history and social ethnography through heirlooms, collectibles and objects of antiquity from the Indian subcontinent. .[1]

Recognition and Impact

Malhotra's work has garnered significant recognition for its contribution to the understanding of the 1947 Partition and its lasting, long-term, generational impact. She has been praised for her empathetic approach, unique methodology 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.[3]

Writing Life[edit]

Aanchal Malhotra's debut book Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory[4] 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.[5] It is an attempt to revisit the Partition through personal and intimate objects that refugees carried with them across the border during their migration.[6][7][8] Written as a crossover between history and anthropology, it portrays a human history of Partition. It was named a Hindustan Times "India @ 70" book[9] and shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, Shakti Bhatt Prize First Book Award, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, and Hindu Lit for Life Non Fiction Prize.

Aanchal Malhotra speaking at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024, The Book Of Everlasting Things

Outside the subcontinent, it was published under the title Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided, by Hurst Publishers in 2019.[10] It was shortlisted by the British Academy for the 2019 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.[11] In 2022, it won the US-based Council for Museum Anthropology Book Prize, where the committee said “Malhotra’s concern for detail — such as languages spoken, family members present and their interactions during interviews, setting and mood (as well as her own responses to the stories) — creates a strong moral and ethical underpinning for this work . . . [It] is a model for significant contributions to museum anthropology.” [12][13]

To mark the 75th anniversary of Partition in 2022, Malhotra published a sequel titled, In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, which focused on the contemporary relevance of Partition in the everyday lives of Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis.[14]  The Tribune described the book as an “opus”, while India Today called it a “monumental archive of Partition.”

Her debut novel, The Book of Everlasting Things, was also published in 2022.[15]

Books[edit]

Non-Fiction[edit]

  • Remnants of a Separation: A History of Partition through Material Memory (2017) / Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided (2019)[16]
  • In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition (2022)[9]

Fiction[edit]

  • The Book of Everlasting Things (December 2022)[5] (HarperCollins India, Flatiron Books, 2022)

Anthologies[edit]

  • The Book of Dog (HarperCollins India, 2022)[17]
  • Our Freedoms: Essays and Stories from India's best writers (Juggernaut, 2021)[18]
  • India at 70: Multidisciplinary Approaches (Routledge, 2019)[19]
  • Departures in Critical Qualitative Research (University of California Press, 2019) [20]
  • Looking Back: The 1947 Partition of India 70 Years On (Orient Black Swan, 2017) [21]

Awards and Honours[edit]

  • 2017 A Hindustan Times “India @70” Book, Remnants of A Separation [22]
  • 2018 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, shortlist, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2018 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize, shortlist, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2018 Hindu Lit for Life Non-Fiction Prize, shortlist, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2018 The Oxford Book Cover Prize, winner, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2018 Publishing Next Printed Book of the Year, shortlist, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2018 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award, longlist, Remnants of A Separation [23]
  • 2019 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding, shortlist, Remnants of Partition
  • 2020 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puruskar, shortlist, Remnants of A Separation
  • 2022 Council for Museum Anthropology Book Prize, winner, Remnants of Partition [13]
  • 2022 Valley of Words Prize for Hindi Translation, winner, Yaadon ke Bikhre Moti [24]
  • 2022 History Today’s Best Books of the Year, In the Language of Remembering [25]
  • 2022 Publishing Next Printed Book of the Year (English), runner up, In the Language of Remembering
  • 2022 NPR’s Best Books of the Year, The Book of Everlasting Things
  • 2023 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puruskar, shortlist, In the Language of Remembering
  • 2023 Karwaan Book Awards, longlist, In the Language of Remembering
  • 2024 Literary Prize of The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Indienne, winner, Vestiges d’une Séparation [26]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Sharma, Himini (23 July 2019). "The Precious Past". The Citizen.
  2. ^ "Museum of Material Memory". museumofmaterialmemory.com. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  3. ^ "5 female writers who celebrate womanhood and champion individuality through their works". Harper Bazar. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  4. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (2017). Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory. HarperCollins. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-9352770120.
  5. ^ a b "The stories objects tell: What survivors of the Partition of India took with them". CBC. 15 November 2019.
  6. ^ Sridhar, Lalitha (2 December 2017). "Tangible memories: Tales through objects from across the bloodied border". The Hindu.
  7. ^ Jhurani, Aarti (18 August 2019). "Five heart-wrenching books that explore the partition of India". The National.
  8. ^ Sanyal, Devapriya (October 2019). "Book review: Remnants of a separation". Contemporary South Asia. 27 (4): 564. doi:10.1080/09584935.2019.1689670.
  9. ^ a b "India @ 70: 5 books that capture India's freedom struggle, independence and partition". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  10. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal. "Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects from a Continent Divided". Hindustan Times.
  11. ^ "Indian author on British Academy's Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize shortlist". The Times of India. 12 September 2019. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  12. ^ "2022 Council for Museum Anthropology Awards - Council for Museum Anthropology". museumanthropology.org. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  13. ^ a b Staff, Scroll (17 October 2022). "Aanchal Malhotra's 'Remnants of Partition' wins US-based Council for Museum Anthropology Book Award". Scroll.in. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Book Review: The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra". www.publishersweekly.com. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Remnants of Partition". Publishers Weekly.
  17. ^ Malhotra, Aanchal (2022). Sodhi, Hemali (ed.). The book of dog. Gurugram, Haryana: HarperCollins Publishers India. ISBN 978-93-5489-356-8.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Departures in Critical Qualitative Research". dcqr.scholasticahq.com. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ "India @ 70: 5 books that capture India's freedom struggle, independence and partition". Hindustan Times.
  23. ^ Staff, Scroll. "Sujatha Gidla and Janice Pariat on the longlists of the Tata Literature Live Awards". Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Winners of the 'Valley of Words' Book Awards Announced". The Wire. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  25. ^ Khan, Arman (29 December 2022). "Top 10 Indian non-fiction books of 2022". GQ India. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Literary Prize 2024 from La Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Indienne". Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco Indienne.

Further reading[edit]

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