Faculty News & Accomplishments

Aruni Kashyap's latest novel, How to Date a Fanatic, was published by HarperVia this summer and follows characters navigating political polarization, state power, and social division in contemporary India. The Smell of Bamboo Blossoms, a collection of stories by Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, one of the most critically acclaimed Indigenous writers from India, will be published in Kashyap's translation by Penguin Modern Library in 2027. At the 2025 Decatur Book Festival, Kashyap joined Victoria Chang and Tiana Clark in conversation with Saeed Jones for the keynote event, where they discussed The People’s Project, a bold new anthology exploring creativity, identity, and resilience in uncertain times. In April, he traveled to Agnes Scott College to speak at their Writers and Scholars Series. 

Chigozie Obioma was shortlisted for Nigeria Prize for Literature this year and he is judging the European Prize for Literature 2026, the European Translation Prize for Fiction, the inaugural Hillary Mantell Prize for Fiction and was chosen as one of the experts who nominated books for Guardian’s 100 Best Novels of all Time. He was featured in an interview on France24 at the Marrakech African Book Festival in Morocco.  His short fiction, "The Yellow Leaf" appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of The Paris Review. He was the guest editor and cover star for 54 Mag, Issue 15: Written Legacy. His novel THE FISHERMAN was adapted for stage by Gbolahan Obisesan and will premiere in Canada at Crow's Theater March 2027. Chigozie was the Executive Producer for the Nigerian Film Call of My Life, the highest-grossing Nigerian film of 2026. He directed the 4th edition of the Fiction Writers’ Program at the Oxbelly Retreats in Costa Navarino in historic Messinia, Greece. 

THESE LATE ECLIPSES is Andrew Zawacki's latest collection was published by Verge Books. He was invited to Melbourne, Australia, for poetry and photo events at Deakin U., RMIT, La Trobe U., Bad Flaneur, and Melbourne Savage Club. He also had visits to the poetry and photography programs at UVA and Kenyon College.