Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist and short-story writer Jhumpa Lahiri. Her bestselling debut story collection, “Interpreter of Maladies”, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 2000 and was translated into more than 30 languages. Her debut novel, “The Namesake”, was published to acclaim in 2003 and adapted into a film in 2006; “The Lowland” (2013) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Since 2015 Jhumpa has written in Italian, with volumes of essays, fiction and poetry including “In Altre Parole” (“In Other Words”), “Il Vestito dei libri” (“The Clothing of Books”), “Dove mi trovo” (“Whereabouts”), “Il quaderno di Nerina” (“Nerina's Notebook) and “Racconti Romani” (“Roman Stories”). We spoke to Jhumpa about winning the Pulitzer Prize with her first published book, writing in a foreign language and her latest collection of short fiction, “Roman Stories”.

“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.

You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

#179: Jhumpa Lahiri, novelist and short-story writer