Friends of the Library Author Talk: Madhushree Ghosh

Madhushree Ghosh has written prolifically on how food—especially South Asian food—travels globally though immigration, migration and indenture. As the daughter of refugees and an immigrant to America, food stories inform her about the history of her people, how they traveled and what happened to them when they held onto recipes, let go or modified them over countries, continents and generations. Her work has been a Notable Mention in Best American Essays in Food Writing, Pushcart nominated and published in The New York Times, Vogue India, Washington Post, LA Times, The Writer, Longreads, Catapult, BOMB, Guernica, LA Review of Books, LitHub and others. She is an invited workshop leader at conferences and workshops such as Grub Street Writers, Encinitas Writers Workshop, San Diego Memoir Writers’ Workshop and others.

Her debut food narrative memoir was published in 2022 by the University of Iowa Press to great acclaim. Khabaar, which was awarded the IPPY gold in 2023, focuses on chefs, home cooks, and food stall owners, and the author’s own immigrant journey as the daughter of refugees, questioning what it means to belong and what does “belonging” in a new place look like in the foods carried over from the old country.