Akhil Sharma

Residency Period
18 September to 23 October 2021 (Online)
8 August to 2 December 2022

Akhil Sharma was born in Delhi in India and emigrated to the USA in 1979. His stories have been published in the New Yorker and in Atlantic Monthly, and have been included in The Best American Short Stories and O. Henry Prize Collections. His first novel, An Obedient Father, won the 2001 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. He was named one of Granta’s ‘Best of Young American Novelists’ in 2007. His second novel, Family Life, won The 2015 Folio Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award 2016. Sharma is currently a Fellow at The New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

© Photo credit: Jack Lewellyn

Awards

2016: International Dublin Literary Award for Family Life
2016: DSC Prize for South Asian Literature shortlist for Family Life
2015: Folio Prize winner for Family Life
2014: New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year selection for Family Life
2014: New York Magazine Ten Best Books of the Year selection for Family Life
2001: Whiting Award winner for An Obedient Father
2001: PEN/Hemingway Award winner for An Obedient Father

Publications

Family Life (2014)
An Obedient Father (2000)

Literary Focus

Family dynamics lie at the center of Professor Sharma’s writing, in particular how one escapes the pull of guilt to escape family and form one’s own identity.

Courses & Events

Date / Venue

Programme Activities

5 weekly workshops on:
20, 27 August, 3, 10 & 17 September 2022 (Saturdays)

2 to 5pm SGT

$145 for 5 sessions
plus a public workshop/reading*

(Foundation to Intermediate)

[Completed]

Creative Nonfiction

This course aims to help writers interrogate actual experience. We will ask questions that will allow the representation of that experience to have some of the qualities of fiction. How did a particular moment “feel”? To what extent was meaning generated in a particular moment and to what extent was it superimposed later?

Course code: AS1

More information here

6 weekly workshops:

24 September, 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 October 2022

$180 for 6 sessions
plus a public workshop/reading*

(Intermediate to Advanced)

[Completed]

Advanced Short Fiction

The course will focus in particular on (1) plotting, (2) convincing characterization, and (3) the pertinent detail. The purpose of the course is to take one or two of the best stories each student has written and use them as opportunities to see what technical skills still need to be developed.

At the end of this course, participants will:

develop an understanding of the short story, its forms, structures and techniques
have a deeper knowledge of how to write short stories
have the skills and experience to write new and revise existing short stories.

Course code: AS2

More information here

September to November 2022
Various venues
$25 per session*

(Intermediate to Advanced)

[Completed]

Writer to Writer

Book a one-on-one mentoring session with award-winning writer Akhil Sharma to discuss your writing project. Akhil will provide guidance to help your creative practice and support your writing life.

Course code: AS5

More information here

18 & 25 September, 2, 9, 16 & 23 October 2021 (Saturdays)
8:00 to 10:30 pm SGT

Online course
6 weekly workshops
$190 for 6 sessions*

(Intermediate to Advanced)

[Completed]

Telling Tales: Discovering What is True for Us

This advanced short story course will develop writers’ understanding of the short story, and focus on what exactly is worth writing about: the interior life or the social world and in what proportions. Writers will gain a deeper knowledge of advanced techniques and approaches to writing compelling short stories. Participants will engage in writing exercises leading to the creation of a short story.

Course code: AS7

More information here

* Concession rates available for students, unemployed, low income migrant workers & free for undergraduates & Post graduates from Singapore tertiary institutions.

Publications

Full Programme Schedule

Back to Visiting Writers