Sunny Singh (writer)

Sunny Singh FRSL (born 20 May 1969) is an Indian-born academic and writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. She is Professor of Creative Writing and Inclusion in the Arts at London Metropolitan University.

This article is about the writer. For other people, see Sunny Singh.

Sunny Singh presenting the Jhalak Prize in 2023

Early life and education

Sunny Singh was born in Varanasi, India. Her father's work with the government meant that the family regularly moved, living in cantonments and outposts including Dehradun, Dibrugarh, Along and Teju. The family also followed her father's assignments abroad, living in Pakistan,[1] the United States and Namibia.

Singh attended Brandeis University. where she majored in English and American Literature. She holds a master's degree in Spanish Language, Literature and Culture from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a PhD from the University of Barcelona, Spain.[2]

Career

Singh worked as a journalist and management executive in Mexico, Chile, and South Africa before returning to India in 1995 to focus on writing. She worked as a freelance writer and journalist until 2002 in New Delhi, publishing her first two books in that period. She moved to Barcelona in 2002 to work on her PhD and published her second novel in 2006.

Before her appointment as Professor in 2020, Singh was Senior Lecturer and Course Leader in Creative Writing at the London Metropolitan University.[3]

Singh is the Chairperson of the Authors' Club. In 2016, Singh co-founded the Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour. The award supports British writers with a one-thousand pound prize. It was initiated by Singh, Nikesh Shukla and Media Diversified, with support from The Authors' Club and funds donated by an anonymous benefactor.[4] Judges of the prize change on an annual basis, and have included Nikesh Shukla, Louise Doughty, Kerry Young, and Roy McFarlane in the past. Previous winners include: Travis Alabanza (None of the Above, 2022), Sabba Khan (The Roles We Play, 2021), Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (The First Woman, 2020), Guy Gunaratne (In Our Mad and Furious City, 2019), Reni Eddo-Lodge (Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, 2018), and Jacob Ross (The Bone Readers, 2017). In 2020, a sister award, the Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize, was founded.

In mid-2021 Singh, with Monisha Rajesh and Chimene Suleyman, received racist abuse on social media as a result of raising concerns about depictions of autism and of students of colour in Kate Clanchy's book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.[5] Rajesh characterised some of Clanchy's prose as "dehumanising", "racist", "anti-Black", "antisemitic" and "more like something a eugenicist might observe than a trusted teacher".[6]

In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.[7]

Literary works

Singh has published three novels, three non-fiction books and numerous short stories and essays.

Singh's debut novel, Nani's Book of Suicides, won the Mar De Letras Prize in Spain in 2003.[8] Her novel, Hotel Arcadia, was published by Quartet Books. Her latest book, A Bollywood State of Mind, will be published on 19 October 2023 by Footnote Press (part of Bonnier Books UK[9]).

Books
  • Nani's Book of Suicides, HarperCollins Publishers India (2000) ISBN 978-81-7223-397-6
  • Single in the City, Penguin Books Australia (2000) ISBN 978-0-14-100024-4
  • With Krishna's Eyes, Rupa & Co (2006) ISBN 978-81-291-0966-8
  • Hotel Arcadia, Quartet Books (2015) ISBN 978-0704373792
  • Amitabh Bachchan, British Film Institute (2017) ISBN 978-1844576319
  • A Bollywood State of Mind, Footnote Press (2023) ISBN 978-1-80444042-1

Personal life

Singh lives in London.

References
  1. Singh, Sunny (23 May 2018). "Indian Culture in an Era of Global Transformations" (PDF). The Centre for Australian and Transnational Studies. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. "Sunny Singh". thesusijanagency.com.
  3. "London Metrolpolitan University – Sunny Singh". londonmet.ac.uk.
  4. "Jhalak Prize - Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour". Jhalak Prize. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  5. Campbell, Lucy (10 August 2021). "Kate Clanchy to rewrite memoir amid criticism of 'racist and ableist tropes'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  6. Rajesh, Monisha (13 August 2021). "Pointing out racism in books is not an 'attack' – it's a call for industry reform". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. Creamer, Ella (12 July 2023). "Royal Society of Literature aims to broaden representation as it announces 62 new fellows". The Guardian.
  8. Yaniz, Juan Pedro (28 June 2005). "La India eterna es presentada por la mirada de Singh en reciente novela". abc.es (in Spanish).
  9. https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/news-and-media/bonnier-books-uk-announces-mission-oriented-start-up-footnote-press/#:~:text=2%20min%20read-,Bonnier%20Books%20UK%20announces%20%27mission%20oriented%27%20start%20up%20Footnote%20Press,Vidisha%20Biswas%20and%20Sujoy%20Roy.
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