Jenny Bhatt

Jenny Bhatt is an Indian American writer, literary translator, and literary critic. She is the author of a story collection, "Each of Us Killers", and a literary translation, "Ratno Dholi: The Best Stories of Dhumketu." She is the host of the "Desi Books" podcast and a creative writing instructor at Writing Workshops Dallas.
Personal life.
Bhatt was born in Rajkot, Gujarat, India, and grew up in Mumbai. She did most of her high school at Kimmins High School in Panchgani, Maharashtra. She attended the University of Hertfordshire in England as an engineering undergraduate. Thereafter, she worked in Germany, England, Scotland, and the United States at various multi-national corporations until 2012.
From 2012 to 2014, she worked as a personal financial advisor to people running small businesses.
She's based in the Dallas, Texas area.
Writing.
From 2016 onward, Bhatt's short fiction has been published in various literary journals. Her non-fiction and literary criticism have been published in various outlets, such as "NPR," "The Washington Post," "Literary Hub," and "The Atlantic." Bhatt has also published a short story translation of Jhaverchand Meghani, a pioneering Gujarati poet, writer, social reformer, and freedom fighter at "Waxwing Magazine".
"Each of Us Killers" (short story collection).
Nominated as a Foreword INDIES 2020 Book of the Year Finalist in the Short Stories and Multicultural Adult Fiction categories"," Bhatt's debut short story collection was cited as one of the most anticipated debuts of the second half of 2020 by "Electric Literature," "Literary Hub," "The Millions", and "Entropy Magazine". It was published by "7.13 Books". It received a starred review from "Shelf Awareness", with praise that “Challenging assumptions, confronting power, manipulating barriers whenever possible–even at grave personal cost–Bhatt’s cast surprises, inspires, frightens, beguiles, but never disappoints.” "Publishers Weekly" wrote that Bhatt's "stories are memorable on their own, and they add up to a powerful expression of the hunger for success on one's own terms." "Kirkus Reviews" called it a "formally diverse collection with exquisitely crafted stories about longing, striving, and learning what we can control" and listed it as one of the must-read collections of Fall 2020. "Debutiful," "Ms. Magazine." "Bustle" listed it as a must-read book of September 2020 and as one of the best collections of 2020. "Largehearted Boy" listed it as a favorite short story collection of 2020. "Book Riot" listed it as one of the top ten short story collections of 2020 by Asian authors. Other venues that gave positive or rave reviews: "The Dallas Morning News"; "Texas Public Radio"; "Open the Magazine"; "The National Book Review;" "New York Journal of Books"; "NRI Pulse"; "India Currents"; "Puerto del Sol"; "National Book Critics' Circle;" "Phoebe Journal;" "Vagabond City;" "Platform Magazine;" and "The Hindu Business Line.". Tabish Khair, writing for "The Hindu", described the work thus: ". . . Bhatt gets under the skin of her characters with an ease that is difficult to achieve when creating characters beyond the pale of capital and caste. [. . .] using lively, sculpted language that avoids the stilted, literary English often afflicting Indian English writing."
"Ratno Dholi: The Best Stories of Dhumketu" (literary translation).
Longlisted for the Valley of Words Book Award in the 'English Translations From Regional Languages' category, this book is a translation of 26 short stories by the Gujarati writer, Dhumketu, published by "HarperCollins India" in October 2020. "The Hindustan Times" praised the translation as "reasonably fast-paced and eminently accessible." "Womensweb.in" said that "Jenny Bhatt’s translation is nuanced but simple, and does justice to these stories.” "Firstpost" wrote that "Her translations make for a crisp and honest rendering of 20th century Gujarat . . ." "The Hindu" wrote: "The translator of this collection, Jenny Bhatt, contextualizes [Dhumketu's] work in the introduction while providing insightful details about his craft." "The Indian Express" described the translation as mellifluous and wrote that "well-informed choices for pivotal words open new possibilities of re-readings for a Gujarati reader." The "Deccan Chronicle" praised the depth of each story, adding: “. . . which means that a) the translator has done an excellent job and b) every story in the book is satisfying, something that does not often happen with short story collections.”
"Desi Books" podcast.
Bhatt started the "Desi Books" podcast in April 2020 to spotlight books by writers of South Asian origin. South Asia refers to the SAARC countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and The Maldives. "Mid-day" has called it a venue for "the best of desi reads." "Eastern Eye" has described it as one of the most "popular podcasts redefining real talk."
Teaching.
Bhatt teaches creative writing at "Writing Workshops Dallas".