Chandra Prasad

Chandra Prasad was born in 1975 in New Haven, Connecticut to an Indian father and an Italian/Swedish/English mother. She knew from childhood that she wanted to be an author, although she preferred to write on her own rather than to study creative writing formally. A 1997 graduate of Yale, she enjoys creating stories that have an interesting historical framework. Two of her books, Death of a Circus (Red Hen Press) and a forthcoming novel with Atria, are set in the America of the 1930s.

Chandra is the editor of, and a contributor to, Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience (W.W. Norton), which includes original pieces by authors such as Danzy Senna, Cristina Garcia, Rebecca Walker, Mat Johnson, Ruth Ozeki, Neela Vaswani, Marina Budhos, and Diana Abu-Jaber. The author of Outwitting the Job Market, Chandra has written numerous articles on diversity and the workplace, which have been published in the Wall Street Journal, India Abroad, India New England, and Vault.com, among others. Her short stories have appeared in a variety of literary magazines, including Faultline, the University of California at Irvine's Pushcart prize-winning journal.

Married to Basil Petrov, a native of Odessa, Ukraine, Chandra lives and works in Connecticut.

Bibliography



Death of a Circus
Red Hen Press. (2006)

Tells the story of the Bringlebright Circus, a small fictional troupe traveling the United States in the early twentieth century, an era when circuses are falling out of favor and only the largest shows are enduring. Initially, the book follows Lor Cole, a young African American man from Connecticut who dreams of leaving behind his provincial past and making a name for himself as a high wire walker. Upon joining Bringlebright, however, Lor quickly learns that the characters who join him under the Big Top have their own stories to tell.

Closest to Lor is Cirella Flannery, a beautiful and startlingly devious fire-eater who has struggled for survival since her spirited days in a juvenile detention facility. Ranju, Bringlebright's reclusive chief animal trainer, hides a history of magic and trickery that may be his undoing. Stalwart, Ranju's young protégé, finds solace in his journal even as he grapples with a mysterious connection to Lor. Presiding over the show is Mr. Barnacle, the Ringmaster, a charlatan who constantly concocts new stratagems to keep Bringlebright afloat. Together, these performers create a colorful ensemble that illuminates the twin sides of the show: one rapturously razzle-dazzle, the other rough-and-tumble.

Books edited by Chandra Prasad

Mixed
W.W.Norton (1989)

Though multiracialism has recently become a popular aspect of many memoirs and novels, Mixed is the first of its kind: a fiction anthology with racial overlap as its compass. With original pieces by both established and emerging writers, Mixed explores the complexities of identity that come with being a multiracial person. Every story, crafted by authors who are themselves mixed-race, broaches multiracialism through character or theme. With contributors such as Neela Vaswani, Cristina Garcia, Danzy Senna, Ruth Ozeki, Mat Johnson, Wayde Compton, Diana Abu-Jaber, Marina Budhos, Mary Yukari Waters, and Peter Ho Davies, and an illuminating introduction by Rebecca Walker, Mixed gives narrative voice to the multiple identities of the rising generation.

South Asian Women authors
Sawnet Bookshelf
Sawnet