Samrat Upadhyay, the first Nepali-born fiction writer to be published in the United States, delivered the final talk in this year’s Living Writers series Nov. 14. Co-sponsored by the Asian studies program, the event offered an intimate look at Upadhyay’s experiences growing up in Nepal, the personal motivations that led him to become a writer and an excerpt from his latest novel, “Dark Motherland,” scheduled to be published in January 2025. 

Professor of English and Creative Writing Jennifer Brice began the event with a short introduction about Upadhyay’s professional accolades and backstory.

“Samrat Upadhyay is the first Nepali-born fiction writer writing in English to be published in the United States. He moved to this country at the age of 21 and he is now a distinguished professor of English at Indiana University in Bloomington,” Brice said.

Upadhyay’s debut story collection, “Arresting God in Kathmandu,” won a Whiting Writers’ Award, and “The Royal Ghosts,” won the Asian American Literary Award. He also writes in long-form fiction, publishing novels “The Guru of Love,” “Buddha’s Orphans” and “The City Son.” 

Upadhyay began his talk by reflecting on his formative years at a Jesuit school in Nepal run by American priests. It was there that he first started writing in English. He shared that growing up in a remote area without television made literature his primary form of entertainment. Hindi movies and Bollywood films, with their intense drama and family dynamics, also became a significant source of inspiration.

Upadhyay read from an essay titled “The Making of an Immigrant Writer.” In this personal piece, he described his transition from Nepal to the school in the United States. Originally planning to study business management, he found himself increasingly unhappy.

“I realized I didn’t have a management bone in my body,”  Upadhyay said.

It was during this time that he rediscovered his passion for writing and literature, gravitating towards English classes and ultimately deciding to follow that path instead by getting his degree in English from the University of Hawaii.

Upadhyay also spoke about his early years in America, recalling the hardships of working in fast food restaurants and enduring long hours under the intense Texas heat. These experiences, he shared, shaped his resilience and determination to succeed as a writer.

Reflecting on his body of work, Upadhyay shared what he has attempted to achieve with his collections.

“I have attempted to chronicle the stories of the fall, the landscape of my country, specifically the city of Kathmandu, where I was born and raised,” Upadhyay said.

He went on to discuss his first story collection, “Arresting God in Kathmandu,” a collection of nine short stories that provide a glimpse into everyday life in Kathmandu, Nepal, in which he tried to capture the vision of his city and how its residents balancing their desires in the face of a society caught between tradition and rapid change.

Upadhyay then read an excerpt from his newest novel, “Dark Motherland,” which took him a decade to complete. The novel is told from multiple viewpoints and imagines a dystopian Nepal in 2015 following a devastating earthquake and the rise of a dictatorial regime.

In the Q&A following the reading, one student, referring back to a previous in-class discussion with the author, asked how Upadhyay went about cutting down his original draft, one which was even longer than the current massive final piece. 

“I knew it was long when I was writing it but was allowing myself the freedom to write as I pleased, going off on tangents and stuff like that, but I knew it was long, and I knew I needed to cut it back,” Upadhyay said. “In the first draft, writers should overwrite and try to bring it down.”

Anaïs King, a first-year taking the Living Writers course, found Upadhyay’s personal story of becoming an author quite inspiring.  

“​​I really enjoyed his time with us and found him to be such an interesting author,” King said. “I was glad I got to ask him about how he chooses the settings for each story, and he explained that he writes about what he knows. Having grown up in a big city like Kathmandu, he feels more comfortable writing about experiences he’s lived. It was truly special to have an author who not only paved the way for other Nepali writers in the US but is also incredibly engaging and talented in his own right.”

Samrat Upadhyay’s talk provided a unique and personal perspective on the life of a writer whose work has been shaped by the intersections of immigration, cultural identity and over all, love of the craft. His journey to becoming a celebrated author in the United States is a testament to his perseverance and dedication to his work.