Content Warning: This section references wartime violence, including sexual assault and genocide.

Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London, England, in 1967 but moved to America just three years later. Her parents were Indian immigrants from the Indian state of West Bengal, and much of her fiction is autobiographical in nature, taking inspiration from her own experience and the experiences of friends and family. Likewise, her works often thematically revolve around the joys and challenges familiar to Southeast Asian immigrants who must navigate social and cultural differences while attempting to build a life in a new place. “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” is typical of Lahiri’s writing in this respect; she even gives Lilia’s father the same career as her own (also a college professor).

Growing up and attending school in Rhode Island, Lahiri went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1989 and a master’s in English, a master of fine arts in creative writing, a master’s in comparative literature, and a doctorate in Renaissance studies from Boston University. Interpreter of Maladies was her first published work, released in 1999 to widespread critical acclaim.