Former reporter, Franklin Regional grad pivots from journalism to fiction writing
Share this post:
After majoring in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, Sindya Bhanoo is quite literally living out the title of her debut book, “Seeking Fortune Elsewhere,” having pivoted to a career as a fiction writer.
“I studied computer science at Carnegie Mellon, but even back then I was interested in storytelling,” said Bhanoo, 41, a 1998 Franklin Regional graduate. “I toyed with the idea of a double-majoring in creative writing, but my computer science coursework was very rigorous and required my full attention.” She went on to get a master’s in journalism from University of California, Berkeley.
After a journalism career that led her to several of the highest-profile print publications in the U.S., Bhanoo became a mother and found herself wanting to go beyond the limits of reporting.
“Fiction can linger and, in doing so, reach a powerful emotional truth,” she said.
The short-story collection “Seeking Fortune Elsewhere” springs from Bhanoo’s desire to tell stories of South Indian immigrants and their families back home. Bhanoo is the daughter of parents who immigrated from India to the U.S. in the 1970s.
A review in The New York Times called the work “a tender and precise debut” whose stories “rattle and shake with the heartache of separation.”
Bhanoo, who lives in Austin, Texas, spoke with the Trib about finding her creativity in writing and working on the book. This interview has been edited for length.
Q: You’ve spent time at some of the highest-profile newspapers in the country, with stints at The New York Times and Washington Post. What did your experience teach you about storytelling that has carried over into writing this new book?
A: My work as a journalist has taught me so much. I’ve had the good fortune of working with some of the most talented editors out there. They pushed me to be a curious, thoughtful reporter, to pursue all angles and to follow all threads. They trained me to be the kind of writer who cuts to the heart of the story.
Now, as a fiction writer, I continue to favor simplicity and clarity. … But there is more breathing room in fiction and, because of this, more space to give to small, poignant moments in a character’s life.
Q: Is there a running theme or through-line to the stories in “Seeking Fortune Elsewhere”?
A: The stories are centered around immigrants from the state of Tamil Nadu in India, where my parents are from, as well as their families back home. Four stories are set in the United States, and four are set in India. Pittsburgh appears in several stories. Many of the stories are centered around women. I tried to capture crucial moments in their lives, when they are making very brave decisions. All of my characters are ordinary people, and my fiction is interested in highlighting the extraordinary moments in their lives.
Our society tends to focus on the big and the grand, on the rich and the powerful. But the ordinary person has a complex life, and I wanted to pay some respect to that.
Q: What are some of the ways you’ve been able to use your education at places like CMU and Berkeley to help inform your work now?
A: The computer science program at Carnegie Mellon is extremely challenging, as an undergraduate program should be. It is not an easy program to get through, and it requires endurance. Writing requires a similar kind of endurance and persistence. It takes time to write a book and then more time to publish it.
At Berkeley, I studied with great journalists who encouraged me to pursue my interests and trust my instincts as a storyteller. Beyond this, both institutions were wonderfully interdisciplinary. My professors were keenly aware that no discipline, and no person, exists in a silo. I am lucky to have spent time at both places, so lucky to have that sense of interconnectivity.