Rimi B. Chatterjee

{{short description|Indian writer, translator, and professor}}

{{EngvarB|date=April 2018}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Rimi B. Chatterjee

| image = rimibchatterjee2008.jpg

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| education = Oxford University (Ph.D)

| occupation = Professor, author, translator

| nationality = Indian

| period = Modern, historical

| genre = Fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, comics

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Rimi B. Chatterjee is an Indian writer of science fiction, screenwriter, translator, comics creator and former professor of English literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. Her first novel Signal Red was published in 2005 by Penguin India, followed by City of Love ( Penguin India 2007) and Black Light (Harper Collins India 2010). She is known for near-future dystopian and climate fiction and historical fantasy. Most of her recent stories are set in the Antisense Universe, a climate-positive alternate future world. She was active in the 2014 Jadavpur University Protests.

In 2024 she won the [https://roommagazine.com/whats-new/announcement/short-forms-contest-2023-the-winners/ Short Forms contest by Room magazine] for ‘Zigsa Tells Her Story’. In 2023 she won the [https://locusmag.com/2023/10/2023-utopia-awards/ Utopia Award for best utopian novellette] for ‘A Question of Choice’ in Reckoning magazine’s special issue "Our Beautiful Reward'. Her novella "Arisudan' featured on the [https://locusmag.com/2022/02/2021-recommended-reading-list/ Locus Reading List for 2021] In 2022 she was a finalist at the [https://www.hollywoodclimatesummit.com/pitchfest Writing Climate Pitchfest], an initiative by the Hollywood Climate Summit.

Career

Chatterjee is a novelist, screenwriter, translator, and ex-professor of English at Jadavpur University. She completed her Ph.D at Oxford University in 1997.{{cite web |title=Dr. Rimi Barnali Chatterjee |url=http://www.jaduniv.edu.in/profile.php?uid=158 |website=www.jaduniv.edu.in |publisher=Jadavpur University |access-date=5 October 2022}} She began teaching at Jadavpur University in 2004.{{cite web |title=Prof Rimi Barnali Chatterjee |url=https://jaduniv.irins.org/profile/124410 |website=Jadavpur University Faculty Profiles |publisher=Indian Research Information Network System |access-date=5 October 2022}}

Selected publications

=Novels=

  • Black Light (2010)Black Light, New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2010, {{ISBN|978-81-7223-839-1}}. Reviews:
  • {{cite news|url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/black-light-is-historical-fantasy-1524211.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044742/http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/black-light-is-historical-fantasy-1524211.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-04|newspaper=Daily Bhaskar|title=Black Light is historical fantasy|first=Kritika|last=Kapoor|date=6 November 2010}}
  • {{cite news|url=https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/In-quest-of-light-94941|newspaper=Mid-Day|title=In quest of light|date=15 September 2010|first=Namita|last=Gupta}}
  • {{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903232749/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/black-light-through-a-glass-darkly/129998-40-101.html|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/black-light-through-a-glass-darkly/129998-40-101.html|archive-date=2010-09-03|url-status=dead|newspaper=IBN Live|title=Black Light: Through a glass, darkly|first=Debashree|last=Majumdar|date=31 August 2010}}
  • {{cite news|url=http://www.afternoondc.in/book-review/when-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction/article_7583|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003116/http://www.afternoondc.in/book-review/when-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction/article_7583|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-04|newspaper=The Afternoon Despatch & Courier|title=When truth is stranger than fiction|date=23 August 2010}}

  • The City of Love (2007)The City of Love, New Delhi: Penguin, 2007, {{ISBN|0-14-310381-4}}. Reviews:
  • {{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107014911/http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/01/06/stories/2008010650270500.htm|url=http://www.hindu.com/lr/2008/01/06/stories/2008010650270500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-01-07|newspaper=The Hindu|department=Literary Review|title=Ambiguous journey|first=Sumana|last=Roy|date=6 January 2008}}
  • {{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071130/asp/opinion/story_8603536.asp|newspaper=The Telegraph (India)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034125/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071130/asp/opinion/story_8603536.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-04|department=Opinion|title=Paperback Pickings: Inside the temple of the mind|date=30 November 2007}}
  • {{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-fantastic-voyage/story-U1DcRZKFme5MoypqAhg44L_amp.html|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=3 December 2007|first=Kalpish|last=Ratna|title=The fantastic voyage}}
  • {{cite news|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080713/spectrum/book9.htm|newspaper=The Sunday Tribune|title=Spice and spirituality|first=Madhusree|last=Chatterjee|date=13 July 2008}}
  • {{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213164119/http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Feb102008/books2008020951356.asp|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Feb102008/books2008020951356.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-02-13|newspaper=Deccan Herald|first=S. Nanda|last=Kumar|date=10 February 2008|title=Setting sail into history}}
  • {{cite news|newspaper=Sahara Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424132252/http://www.saharatime.com/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=4056|url=http://www.saharatime.com/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=4056|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-04-24|title=Tales of the yore|first=Ranjit|last=Lal|date=15 February 2008}}

  • Signal Red (2005)Signal Red: A Novel, New Delhi: Penguin, 2005, {{ISBN|0-14-303262-3}}{{cite journal |last1=Banerjee |first1=Suparno |title=Alternative Dystopia: Science, Power, and Fundamentalism in Rimi B. Chatterjee's Signal Red|journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |date=2009 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=24–41, 155 |id={{ProQuest|231092990}}|jstor=24352312}}

=Stories=

  • "The Garden of Bombahia", about sixteenth-century scientist and heretic Garcia da Orta, appeared in Wasafiri 24(3): pp. 98–106.
  • "The First Rasa", about a woman printer in Calcutta's nineteenth-century pleasure district, came out in Kolkata: Book City: Readings, Fragments, Images, ed. Sria Chatterjee and Jennie Renton (Edinburgh: Textualities, 2009).
  • "Jessica", about an Anglo-Indian woman hairdresser of Portuguese descent in a Bengali neighbourhood in Calcutta, came out in Vislumbres: Bridging India and Iberoamerica 1 (2008): pp. 58–9.
  • "The Key to All the Worlds", appeared in Superhero: The Fabulous Adventures of Rocket Kumar and Other Indian Superheroes, published by Scholastic India in 2007. {{ISBN|81-7655-821-4}}
  • "A Night with the Joking Clown". (2019). In Saint, Tarun K. (ed.). The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction.Rimi B. Chatterjee (2019). "A Night with the Joking Clown". In Saint, Tarun K. (ed.). The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction. Hachette India. {{ISBN|978-93-88322-05-8}}. Reviews:
  • {{cite news |last1=Wolfe |first1=Gary K. |title=Gary K. Wolfe Reviews The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction, Edited by Tarun K. Saint |url=https://locusmag.com/2019/08/gary-k-wolfe-reviews-the-gollancz-book-of-south-asian-science-fiction-edited-by-tarun-h-saint/ |access-date=6 October 2022 |work=Locus |date=August 3, 2019}}
  • {{cite news |last1=Thakare |first1=Sanyukta |title=The Gollancz Book of South Asian Science Fiction by Tarun Saint – Review |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/book-reviews/the-gollancz-book-of-south-asian-science-fiction-by-tarun-saint-review |access-date=6 October 2022 |work=Free Press Journal |date=May 29, 2019}}
  • "Arisudan" (Mithila Review #15, 2021){{cite news |last1=Burnham |first1=Karen |title=The Year in Review 2021 by Karen Burnham |url=https://locusmag.com/2022/02/the-year-in-review-2021-by-karen-burnham/ |access-date=6 October 2022 |work=Locus |date=February 23, 2022}}
  • "‘Arfabad’, in [https://www.amazon.in/Multispecies-Cities-Solarpunk-Urban-Futures/dp/1734054522?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=1be3294e-7258-4193-b6a0-a1ae2d14f5c0/ Multispecies Cities],{{Cite web |title=Multispecies Cities |url=https://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p176/Multispecies_Cities.html |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=WORLD WEAVER PRESS |language=en}} edited by Christoph Rupprecht, Deborah Cleland, Norie Tamura, Rajat Chaudhuri, Sarena Ulibarri, World Weaver Press, April 2021.
  • " ‘Karmic Joy’, Karma Comes Before, the Magazine,{{Cite web |date=2022-11-12 |title=Issue 001: Finding Joy by Karma Comes Before - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/kcbthemag/docs/_a5_kcb_issue_001_finding_joy |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=issuu.com |language=en}} Issue 001, January 2022.
  • "A Question of Choice", Our Beautiful Reward, Reckoning Special Issue,{{Cite web |date=2022-10-09 |title=Our Beautiful Reward {{!}} Reckoning |url=https://reckoning.press/our-beautiful-reward/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |language=en-US}} November 2022.
  • "'A Walk in the Park', State of Matter 7,{{Cite web |title=A Walk in the Park – State of Matter |url=https://stateofmatter.in/fiction/a-walk-in-the-park/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |language=en-US}} December 2022
  • ‘All I Really Wanna Do’, in [https://www.amazon.com/We-Came-Dance-Anthology-Benefitting-ebook/dp/B0CB4T7ZP6 We Came to Dance: An Anthology for the Victims of Club Q],{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=V.S. |title=We Came to Dance: A Queer Anthology Benefitting Club Q |date=November 18, 2023 |publisher=Amphibian Press |isbn=978-1949693485 |language=English}} edited by V. S. Holmes, Amphibian Press, September 2023.
  • ‘Hopdog’ in Solarpunk Creatures, World Weaver Press,{{Cite web |title=Solarpunk Creatures |url=https://www.worldweaverpress.com/store/p186/Solarpunk_Creatures.html |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=WORLD WEAVER PRESS |language=en}} January 2024.
  • ‘The Mudpie’ in Samyukta Fictions,{{Cite web |date=2024-03-15 |title=SAMYUKTA FICTION |url=https://samyuktafiction.in/2024/03/15/1571/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=SAMYUKTA FICTION |language=en}} edited by Anupama Mohan, 2024.
  • ‘Zigsa Tells Her Story’, Room 47.2, winner, Room short fiction competition 2024.{{Cite web |last=Gothoskar |first=Ruchika |date=2024-06-07 |title=Fiction Contest 2024: The Winners |url=https://roommagazine.com/reading-room/contest-winners/fiction-contest-2024-the-winners/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=ROOM Magazine |language=en-US}}

=Graphic stories=

  • "How Zigsa Found Her Way" in the [https://harpercollins.co.in/product/longform/ Longform Anthology] published by HarperCollins India in 2018.
  • "Killer" in Comix India Vol. 2: Girl Power{{Cite book |url=https://store.pothi.com/book/multiple-contributors-girl-power-comix-india-vol-02-collected/ |title=Comix.India vol 2 - Girl Power {{!}} Pothi.com |language=en}} in 2010.
  • "The Bookshop on the Hill" in Drighangchoo Issue 3, Kolkata 2010.

=Other books=

  • Empires of the Mind: A History of the Oxford University Press in India During the Raj (2006)Empires of the Mind: A History of the Oxford University Press in India During the Raj, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-19-567474-X}}. Reviews:
  • {{cite news | newspaper = Business Standard | title = Other books | first = Aresh | last = Shirali | date = 8 March 2006 | url = https://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/other-books-106030801120_1.html }}
  • {{cite journal | last = Helff | first = Sissy | date = November 2007 | doi = 10.1080/02690050701566073 | issue = 3 | journal = Wasafiri | pages = 74–75 | title = Reviews | volume = 22| s2cid = 219611189 }}

  • Apon Katha: My Story by Abanindranath Tagore (translation from Bengali to English) (Chennai: Tara, 2004)
  • Titu Mir by Mahasweta Devi (Bhattacharya) (translation from Bengali to English) (Calcutta: Seagull, 2000) {{ISBN|81-7046-174-X}}
  • ''Go [https://jadavpur.academia.edu/rimibchatterjee/ here] for other out-of-print work.

Honors and awards

  • 2007 SHARP DeLong Prize for History of the Book (Empires of the Mind: A History of the Oxford University Press in India During the Raj){{cite web |title=DeLong Book History Prize Winners {{!}} SHARP |url=https://www.sharpweb.org/main/delong-prize-past-winners/ |publisher=Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing |access-date=15 June 2021}}
  • 2007 English Fiction shortlist, Vodafone Crossword Book Award (City of Love){{cite web |title=Book awards: Vodafone Crossword Book Award Shortlist |url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Vodafone+Crossword+Book+Award+Shortlist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229033848/http://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Vodafone+Crossword+Book+Award+Shortlist |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 December 2010 |website=LibraryThing |access-date=28 June 2021}}
  • 2023 [https://locusmag.com/2023/10/2023-utopia-awards/ Utopia Award for best utopian novellette] for ‘A Question of Choice’ in Reckoning magazine’s special issue "Our Beautiful Reward'.
  • 2024 [https://roommagazine.com/whats-new/announcement/short-forms-contest-2023-the-winners/ Short Forms contest by Room magazine] for ‘Zigsa Tells Her Story’.

References