Jhumpa Lahiri was born in England to Bengali parents and emigrated to the United States as a child. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, which included three stories that first appeared in The New Yorker. Her first novel, The Namesake, part of which also appeared in the magazine, was published in 2003; a film adaptation by the director Mira Nair was released this year.
Edward P. Jones won a Pulitzer Prize and an International impac Dublin Literary Award for his first novel, The Known World. He is also the author of two story collections: Lost in the City, which received a Hemingway Foundation / Pen Award, and All Aunt Hagar's Children, which came out last year. He has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 2003.
