Vassar College Department of English

Faculty

Amitava Kumar is the author of several works of literary non-fiction, including Passport Photos, Bombay-London-New York, and Husband of a Fanatic. His latest book, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb, was described by the New York Times as a “perceptive and soulful” meditation on “the cultural and human repercussions” of the global war on terror. His novel Home Products was short-listed for India’s premier literary award and republished in the US under the title Nobody Does the Right Thing. Kumar serves on the editorial board of several publications and co-edits the web-journal “Politics and Culture.” He is the script-writer and narrator of the prize-winning documentary film “Pure Chutney” (1997) and "Dirty Laundry" (2005). Professor Kumar teaches classes that mainly deal with: reportage; the essay-form, both in prose and film; literatures describing the global movement of goods and people; memory-work.