Faculty at School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Vikram Kapur

Vikram Kapur

Professor and Head, Department of English


Contact Information

My principal focus is creative writing (fiction and nonfiction). I have published three critically-acclaimed novels, Time Is a Fire, The Wages of Life and The Assassinations, as well as edited a well-known anthology of writing on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots entitled 1984: In Memory and Imagination.

In addition, I have published several short stories and pieces of nonfiction in publications in the United Kingdom, United States and India. These include, among others, World Literature Today, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Mekong Review, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Hong Kong Review, Litro, Ambit, the Dublin Quarterly, New Writing, Driftwood, The Hindu, Frontline and Firstpost. A full list of publications is available on my website www.vikramkapur.com.

My short fiction has been shortlisted or longlisted in a number of major international competitions including, among others, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (UK), the Fish International Short Story Prize (Ireland) and the Radiobooks Short Story Prize (Radio Netherlands World Service).

I have received several prestigious scholarships and fellowships including, among others, the Vermont Studio Center fellowship (USA), the Canserrat Arts Center residency (Spain), the India-Africa bursary from the University of East Anglia (UK) and the Wesleyan scholarship (U.S.A.).

I have been Visiting Writer or Writer-in-Residence at a number of universities including, most recently, IIT Madras, Asian College of Journalism and the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

My experience has taught me that it is important to read as a writer and write as a reader. The creative and the critical are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they are complementary. It is not possible to excel in one while ignoring the other, which is the key lesson I wish to pass on to my students.

In addition to creative writing, I also have interests in Crime Writing and Literature about the Two World Wars.

 

  • PhD in creative and critical writing, School of Literature and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, October 2004-July 2010.
  • Master of Mass Communication, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga, United States, March 1992 - June 1994. 
  • Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Armstrong State College (now Armstrong Atlantic State University), Savannah, Ga, United States, September 1988 – August 1991. 
  • Freshman year, Millsaps College, Jackson, Ms, United States, August 1987 – May 1988.  Transferred to Armstrong at the end of the freshman year.

 

Professor, Department of English, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR

Visiting Professor of Creative and Critical Writing, Asian College of Journalism

Lecturer of Literature and Creative Writing, The Open University in the East of England Tutor, University of East Anglia

Senior Instructor, Left to do Ph.D., Seattle Central Communuty College

My short story ‘The Boy in the Back of the Shop’ has been selected to be translated into Portuguese and will appear in a Brazilian fantasy anthology featuring Indian and Brazilian writers in late 2023.
2023 Screencraft Cinematic Short Story Competition, Beverly Hills, Ca, USA, Semi-finalist with ‘Unmade Lives’ which placed in the top 39 of almost 800 entries received from all over the world, March 2023.
‘Papa’s Letters’ was nominated for the Best of the Net anthology in November 2021.
The Fish International Short Story Prize, Cork, Ireland, Longlist, March 2019.
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, United States, Vermont Studio Center fellowship for writing residency, May-June 2018.
Can Serrat Arts Center, El Bruc, Spain, Support Residency, June 2014.                   
Writer-in-residence, Pondicherry Central University, Pondicherry, India, February 23-March 1, 2012
The Aesthetica Annual Creative Works Competition, Aesthetica Magazine, York, UK, Shortlist, Highly Commended, December 2009.
Commonwealth Short Story Competition, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, London, UK, Shortlist, Highly Commended Winner, November 2008.
Radiobooks Short Story Competition, Radio Netherlands World Service, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Honourable Mention, May 2008.
Abroad Writers’ Short Story Competition, California, United States, Honourable Mention, April 2006.    
The India-Africa bursary, The School of Literature and Creative Writing, The University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, 2004. 
Wesleyan scholarship for fiction, Wesleyan Writers Conference, Connecticut, United States, 2002.
Squaw Valley Community of Writers scholarship for fiction, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, California, United States, 2001.

Selected Readings and Presentations (in reverse chronological order)
75 Years of Partition, Reading, India International Centre, January 20, 2023.
The Legacy of Partition, Session and Reading at the Hyderabad Literature Festival, January 24-26, 2020.
Reading at the South Asian Literature Festival, New Delhi, India, October 4-7, 2018.
Reading at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, United States, on May 29, 2018.
‘Memory, Violence and South Asia,’ a dialogical conversation with Sasanka Perera and Shweta Singh, South Asian University, New Delhi, India, January 25, 2018.
Reading and panel discussion on 1984: In Memory and Imagination, Edited by Vikram Kapur, New Delhi World Book Fair, New Delhi, India, January 11, 2017.
‘The Representation of the World War I soldier in literature,’ a paper delivered at the India and World War I: Across Generations conference at the United Service Institution of India on November 6, 2015.
Reading at the IIT Madras, Chennai, India on March 5, 2015.
Reading at the South Asian University, New Delhi, India on December 18, 2014.
Reading at the Can Serrat Centro de Actividades Artisticas, El Bruc, Spain, June 28, 2014.
‘Writing about Indira Gandhi’s assassination and its aftermath,’ a panel discussion at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India, November 3, 2012.
‘The critical impulse in fiction,’ a presentation at the Pondicherry Central University, Pondicherry, India, February 24, 2012.
Reading and presentation on the writing process as Visiting Writer at the Department of English, University of Heidelberg (Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat), Germany, January 23, 2009.
‘The Post 9/11 World Seen Through The Eyes of a Brown Writer,’ a reading and paper presentation at the Oceans of Short Stories Conference conducted by the Liverpool John Moores University and Edge Hill University, Liverpool, UK on May 10, 2008.    
‘Indian Fiction Set Against a Political Backdrop,’ a reading/presentation at the Great Writing Conference, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, June 9-11, 2005.


 

Author, The Assassinations, a novel published by Speaking Tiger, New Delhi, India, in November 2017.

Editor, 1984: In Memory and Imagination, an anthology of short fiction and nonfiction about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots published by Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, in October 2016.

Author, The Wages of Life, a novel published by Srishti Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, India, in January 2004.

Author, Time Is a Fire, a novel published by Srishti Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, India, in January 2002.  Reprinted in 2003. 

Short fiction

’10,’ a short story published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Vol. 160, No. 5 and 6, New York, USA, November 2022.

‘The Past Is Never Past, an essay published in Mekong Review, Vol. 28, Issue 4, Sydney, Australia, August 2022

‘A Temporary Arrangement,’ a short story published in Slush Pile Magazine, Issue 25, California, USA, August 2021.

‘Unmade Lives,’ a short story published in the Mekong Review, Sydney, Australia, Vol. 6, No. 3, May 2021. Picked by the Los Angeles Review of Books and placed on their homepage as a story to read on May 21, 2021.

‘The Right Thing,’ a short story published in The Hong Kong Review, Hong Kong, China, Vol.II, No.3, January 2021.

‘Papa’s Letters,’ a short story published in Himal Southasian https://www.himalmag.com, Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 2020 issue.

‘Slow Time,’ a short story published in The Punch Magazine https://www.thepunchmagazine.com, New Delhi, India, October 2020 issue.

‘When the White Man Came for Chai,’ a short story published in Ambit, Issue 204, London, UK, April 2011.

‘The Immortal Vision of Ram Kumar,’ a short story published in the Dublin Quarterly, Dublin, Ireland, March to May issue, 2011.

‘Auction,’ a short story broadcast in Britain and the British Commonwealth through the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association in November and December of 2008.  Was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2008-09 and recorded on the Commonwealth Award-Winning Stories CD for 2008-09.  Published in The Hindu Literary Review, Chennai, India, on December 7, 2008. 

‘Halal,’ a short story published in The Hindu Literary Review, Chennai, India, on July 6, 2008.

‘My Life as a Dead Man,’ a short story broadcast by Radiobooks of the Radio Netherlands World Service on June 18, 2008.  Rebroadcast by major radio stations all over the world, CBC in Canada and NPR in America, among others.  It was placed in the top five of the Radiobooks Short Story Competition.

‘Between Lives,’ a short story published in New Writing, Vol. 4:1, Bangor, UK, April 2007.

‘Deliverance,’ a short story published in Driftwood, Vol. 1:II, California, USA, June 2006.

Nonfiction

‘This Night Has a Long Way to Go,’ a personal essay published in the Berlin Quarterly, Issue 13, Berlin, Germany, November 2021.

‘Empty Delhi,’ an essay published on https://www.mekongreview.com, April 2021.

Introductory essay, 1984: In Memory and Imagination, Edited by Vikram Kapur, Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, October 2016.

‘Dead Fathers,’ a personal essay published in Litro, Volume 153, London, UK, June 2016.

‘Delhi: 21st Century City,’ an essay published in World Literature Today, Volume 90, No. 3-4, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, May 2016.

‘Love Departed,’ a personal essay published on https://www.litromagazine.com, London, UK, February 2016.

‘A Refugee Soul,’ a personal essay published on https://www.litromagazine.com, London, UK, December 2015

‘Arranged Love,’ a personal essay published on https://www.litromagazine.com, London, UK, August 2015.

‘Kal is tomorrow,’ an essay published in World Literature Today, Volume 89, No. 1, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, January 2015.

‘Memorial,’ an essay published on http://www.litromagazine.com, London, UK, December 2013.

‘Indian Diary,’ a piece of creative nonfiction published in Spiked Magazine, Number 16, Norwich, UK, June 2005.

  • ‘The Level Crossing,’ a short story published in Have a Safe Journey: The World’s First Collection of Short Stories on Road Safety, Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, September 2017.
  • ‘Trilokpuri,’ a short story published in 1984: In Memory and Imagination, Edited by Vikram Kapur, Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, October 2016.
  • ‘First Kiss,’ a short story published in The Amaryllis Book of Erotic Stories, Edited by G.Sampath, Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, June 2016.
  • Introductory essay, 1984: In Memory and Imagination, Edited by Vikram Kapur, Amaryllis, New Delhi, India, October 2016.
  • ‘Go West, Young Man: The Indian Writer’s Catch-22,’ an essay published in Of Narratives, Narrators, Edited by Rajul Bhargava and Shubhshree, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, India, 2004.

The Creative Writer (this is the name of the monthly column I wrote for The Hindu Literary Review published from Chennai in India from February 2011 to September 2013.

‘Literature of loss,’ September 1, 2013

‘Light in darkness,’ August 3, 2013

‘Gone forever,’ July 6, 2013

‘Living the agony,’ June 1, 2013

‘With a backward glance,’ May 4, 2013

‘Repository of memories,’ April 6, 2013

‘At the short end,’ March 3, 2013

‘Damning indictment,’ February 2, 2013

‘Reading the game,’ January 6, 2013

‘Using the you,’ December 2, 2012

‘A win for nostalgia,’ November 3, 2012

‘Escapist fantasy,’ October 6, 2012

‘Wordcraft at its best,’ September 2, 2012

‘Brave new books,’ August 5, 2012

‘Why you should begin well,’ July 1, 2012

‘Winning the numbers game,’ June 2, 2012

‘Absurd meets sinister,’ May 5, 2012

‘Engaging with the world,’ April 2, 2012

‘Conditional freedom,’ March 3, 2012

‘The secret life of fictional detectives,’ February 5, 2012

‘Crime pays, in fiction,’ January 1, 2012

‘Go with the heart,’ December 4, 2011

‘It’s a dice game,’ November 5, 2011

‘Be sure of nothing,’ October 1, 2011

‘Pitch it right,’ September 3, 2011

‘Plotting a thriller,’ August 6, 2011

‘Primacy of plot,’ July 4, 2011

‘Give stories a chance,’ June 5, 2011

‘No easy task,’ May 1, 2011

‘Know the characters,’ April 3, 2011

‘Look around…,’ March 5, 2011

‘The right words,’ February 5, 2011

Other media articles

‘Why India Needs an Army of Good Teachers,’ an essay published in The Financial Express, New Delhi, India, on January 27, 2020.

‘Changing Colours of Racism,’ an essay published in The Hindu, Chennai, India, on March 12, 2014.  Republished in The Himalayan Mirror and The Gulf Today in the United Arab Emirates under the title ‘Racism Scourge in India Too’ on March 13, 2014.

‘Lest We Forget,’ an essay published in The Hindu, Chennai, India, on November 26, 2013.

‘Will the 2013 Man Booker go to the ‘novel’ novel?,’ an essay published in Firstpost, Mumbai, India, on October 14, 2013.

‘Transcending Divides,’ an essay published in The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on September 14, 2013.

‘Lessons in loss: A Delhi postcard,’ a personal essay published in Firstpost, Mumbai, India, on July 10, 2013.

‘A Father’s Day Remembrance: The army officer who would not talk about war,’ an essay published in Firstpost, Mumbai, India, on June 16, 2013.

‘Ethics Matter,’ an essay on W.B. Yeats published in Frontline, Chennai, India, in the February 9-22, 2013 issue.

‘Anomaly was his middle name,’ an essay published in The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on December 8, 2012.

‘Ending the Silence,’ an essay published in Frontline, Chennai, India, in the November 3-16, 2012 issue.

‘I disapprove of self-indulgence…,’ an interview with Nilanjana Roy, The Hindu Literary Review, Chennai, India, on August 5, 2012.

‘Many summers later…,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on July 14, 2012.

‘I don’t hunt for the picture,’ an interview with eminent photographer Sebastian Cortes, The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on May 19, 2012.

‘Anything but impartial reportage,’ The Hindu Literary Review, Chennai, India on April 2, 2012.

‘Aliterates, wake up,’ The Hindu Education Plus, Chennai, India, on 26 March, 2012.

‘Tales from Hira Mandi,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 25 February, 2012.

‘Consuming Violence,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 18 February, 2012.

‘Jaipur losing its soul?,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 28 January, 2012.

‘Reality is not in the realism,’ an interview with Booker Prize-winning author Ben Okri, The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on January 28, 2012.

‘Old stereotypes surface again,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on January 21, 2012.

‘Make your voice count,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on January 1, 2012.

‘No one like him,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on December 11, 2011.

‘Elusive Top,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on October 15, 2011.

‘I generally find writing quite difficult,’ an interview with Pakistani author and journalist Mohammad Hanif, The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on October 1, 2011.

‘A tale of two Marathas,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on September 10, 2011.

‘Prisoners of the past,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on August 13, 2011.

‘The will to change?’, The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 23 July, 2011.

‘A travesty of education,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 25 June 2011.

‘When society failed the artist,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on 18 June 2011.

‘Beyond Prejudice,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India, on February 25, 2007.

‘Extreme Prejudices,’ The Hindu Magazine, Chennai, India on 28 January, 2007.

‘The West’s Demons,’ The Pioneer, New Delhi, India on 21 December, 2005.

 

(Selected Readings and Presentations)
The Legacy of Partition, Hyderabad Literature Festival, India, 2020.
Reading from The Assassinations; A Novel of 1984, South Asian Literature Festival, New Delhi, India, 2018.
Reading from The Assassinations; A Novel of 1984, Vermont Studio Center, United States, 2018.
Memory, Violence and South Asia, a dialogical conversation with Sasanka Perera and Shweta Singh, South Asian University, India, 2018.
Reading and panel discussion on 1984: In Memory and Imagination, Edited by Vikram Kapur, New Delhi World Book Fair, India, 2017.
Delhi's Darkest Hour, Times Literature Festival, India, 2016.
‘The Representation of the World War I soldier in literature,’ a paper delivered at the India and World War I: Across Generations conference at the United Service Institution of India, India,  2015.
Reading, IIT Madras, India, 2015.