Tanuja Desai Hidier is an Indian-American author and singer/songwriter. She is best known for her 2002 young adult novel Born Confused, and its 2014 sequel Bombay Blues.

Tanuja Desai Hidier
A three quarter profile shot of the author, with shoulder length brown hair and a purple and pink shirt.
Hidier at the 2014 National Book Festival
BornWilbraham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation
  • Author
  • singer
  • song-writer
Alma materBrown University
GenreYoung adult fiction, realistic fiction
Notable worksBorn Confused
Notable awards1995 James Jones Literary Prize 2003 2003 Best Books for Young Adults
Website
www.thisistanuja.com

Life

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Hidier was born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Her parents met in when they were both attending medical school in Parel (South Mumbai). Their marriage was intercaste and scandalous for her father's family, though her mother's family accepted the marriage. This marriage was a basis for the parents' marriage in Born Confused.[1]

She graduated from Brown University.[2]

She collaborates with Atom Fellows, in the group T&A.

She lives in London.

Writing career

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Her first novel, Born Confused, was released in 2002. The story is a coming-of-age story about an Indian-American teenager named Dimple Lala, and is drawn "largely from autobiography."[3][2] It is considered to be the first of its kind, a South Asian American novel with an Indian-American protagonist.

Musical career

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Hidier wrote and released two "booktracks" to accompany her books; When We Were Twins for Born Confused was released in 2004, and Bombay Spleen followed Bombay Blues in 2014.[4]

Works

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  • Born Confused, Scholastic Press, 2003, ISBN 9780439510110[5]
  • Tale of a Two-Hearted Tiger
  • Megan McCafferty, ed. (18 December 2007). "Cowgirls & Indie Boys". Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42165-4.
  • Bombay Blues, Scholastic Press, 2014

Films

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  • The Test (wrote and directed)
  • The Assimilation Alphabet (co-wrote and co-directed)

Awards

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Hidier is a recipient of the 1995 James Jones Literary Prize for her un-released novelTale of a Two-Hearted Tiger, and received an award for the YALSA 2003 Best Books for Young Adults for her 2002 novel Born Confused.[6] She received the 2015 South Asia Book Award for Bombay Blues.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Parbhoo, Sheryl (September 5, 2016). "Part Two: Interview with Tanuja Desai Hidier".
  2. ^ a b "Tanuja Desai Hidier Books, Author Biography, and Reading Level | Scholastic". www.scholastic.com. Retrieved Apr 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Tanuja Desai Hidier on Born Confused & Opal Mehta". 2006-09-04. Archived from the original on 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  4. ^ "Tanuja Desai Hidier". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  5. ^ Comerford, Lynda Brill (Dec 23, 2002). "Fall 2002 Flying Starts: Tanuja Desai Hidier". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 27 February 2014. On another level, Born Confused encapsulates the universal insecurities and identity crises experienced by young adults. "It was refreshing to write from a teen's perspective," says the author. "It was fun to go back and experience the shock and surprise of new discoveries. Teens aren't as jaded as adults."
  6. ^ admin (2007-07-30). "YALSA - For Members Only 2003 Best Books for Young Adults Annotated List". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Retrieved 2019-04-06.
  7. ^ "Past Awards – South Asia Book Award". southasiabookaward.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-06.
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