Born in 1973 in Calcutta, India, the novelist was awarded the prize for the best young poet in Bengal at the age of 17. Fascinated by France and the language of Molière, she arrived in Paris in 2001 and obtained a DEA in modern literature at the Sorbonne. Barely ten years later, her style is already established, peppered with metaphors and strikingly accurate images. Her novels have the same poetic prose with autobiographical overtones: led by narrators who, like her, have left India for France, they tell of uprooting, the combined experience of freedom and loss, the mourning of the fantasies surrounding the host country as well as the homeland of origin.

Her seven books include "Assommons les pauvres" (L'Olivier, 2009), in which she criticizes the reception of refugees in France with sharp verve, and for which she received two literary prizes - Populiste and Valery-Larbaud, after being a finalist for the Renaudot prize.

In her latest book, "L'autre nom du bonheur était français" published by Gallimard, Shumona Sinha recounts her journey in the literary field, her love of French grammar, which she calls her "vital" language, and the ties that bind her to her native India.

Join her online or at the Alliance Française de Paris to (re)discover her work.

A signing session is planned after the meeting.

This event is organized by the Alliance Française de Paris, with the support of the Institut français and the Fondation des Alliances Françaises.

Can't join us at the Alliance Française de Paris? Participate online by clicking on the following link: