Jones, Nalini 1971–

views updated

Jones, Nalini 1971–

PERSONAL:

Born July 5, 1971, Newport, RI; married; children: one daughter. Education: Amherst College, B.A., 1993; Columbia University, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Norwalk, CT. Agent— Amy Berkower, Writers House, 21 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10010. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and educator. Columbia University, New York, NY, teacher of fiction, 2008. Has taught at Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, and at the 92nd Street Y, New York, NY. Has worked on musical festivals, including Festival Productions, Newport, RI, 1994—; backstage manager, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 1995—; associate producer of Newport Folk Festival, 2004-07.

AWARDS, HONORS:

MacDowell Colony, Stanford Calderwood Fellowship.

WRITINGS:

What You Call Winter: Stories, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nalini Jones was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on July 5, 1971, to an Indian mother and an American father. She grew up in Ohio, but routinely spent time in New England due to her father's ongoing involvement in the production of the Newport Jazz Festival and other music festivals each summer. She also traveled frequently to Mumbai, India, where her mother had grown up. The cultural differences between her two worlds made her very aware of her surroundings and of the dual nature of her own personality. She earned her undergraduate degree at Amherst College and then an M.F.A. from Columbia University. Jones has taught writing at Fairfield University, in Fairfield, Connecticut, at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and at Columbia University. In addition, she has followed in her father's footsteps, working for Festival Productions as a staff member since 1994, as an associate producer of the Newport Folk Festival from 2004 to 2007, and as a backstage manager of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival since 1995.

Rather than write the traditional story of a split culture as seen through the eyes of a second-generation immigrant, however, Jones has taken a different approach. Her first book,What You Call Winter: Stories, is a collection of short stories that focus on the Catholic community outside Mumbai and the conditions for the people who make that suburb their home. Jones's writing style is straightforward, and yet she manages to intertwine both past and present, fact and fiction, to make for a rich reading experience. Old stories and legends color the reality of her stories, again bringing culture to the foreground of what might otherwise be simply a series of narratives. Sanjay Sipahimalani, in a review for the Antiblurbs Blog, wrote: "Worth your while? Definitely. This is an impressive achievement."

What You Call Winter includes nine stories that revolve around the members of four families, flashing back and forth to depict them at different times in their lives. Johnette Rodgriquez, in a review for The Phoenix Web site, noted that "though Jones is very skillful at layering her characters with flashbacks and internal reactions to their present lives, the reader has the bonus of piecing together snippets of those same characters from other stories." Jennifer Acker, in a review for the Amherst College Web site, noted the ultimate connection found in Jones's work, stating: "Brought into clearest focus in these stories are the women—the network of mothers, sisters, aunts and daughters struggling with forces unique yet universal. These women fight familial and societal expectations. They balance the urgency to tell all with the safety of secrets." These universals overcome the barriers of race and culture and unite Jones's various influences.