SJ Sindu

Summer means vacation but also some serious novel writing. When in doubt, do both!

Come discuss Mohsin Hamid’s incredible EXIT WEST with me over 4 Zoom sessions in May! @grubwriters

This May I’ll be running a prose class for @grubwriters , along with a reading group on Mohsin Hamid’s EXIT WEST. Sign up at grubstreet.org

Floored that TALL WATER was selected as an Asian American Young Adult Honor Book by the @ala_apala @americanlibraryassociation Thanks and congrats to @dionmbd and the team at @harperalley @harpercollins @vcucreativewriting @vcu @englishvcu @vcuchs

In April I’ll be reading with @danzysenna , and Parul Sehgal at @performance.space.new.york Organized and curated by Sarah Schulman (@sarahon9thstreet ) –– 📆April 6, 2026 ⌛Doors: 6:30PM, Start: 7PM 📌Register for FREE at the link in our bio!

What do the three women in the first slide have in common? They'll all be on stage at our 50th Anniversary Faculty reading at AWP! The MFA Program for Writers invites you to join us on Friday, March 6th at 6:30pm at the Baltimore Theater (located in the mezzanine of the Lord Baltimore Hotel). The reading will last about an hour. Afterwards, the MFA Program and Friends of Writers are pleased to co-host the annual Wally Reception, in the Royal Board room on the 19th floor. Readings from… Dilruba Ahmed Debra Allbery Rita Banerjee Alyssa Beckitt Marianne Chan Christine Kitano Samuel Kolawole Steven Kleinman Martha Rhodes Jason Schneiderman SJ Sindu Mecca Jamilah Sullivan The MFA Program will also have a booth at the AWP Bookfair. We’re located at booth #T942, located just to the right of the main entrance as you walk in. We hope to see you there! Full schedule of panels and events at bit.ly/3NSHkUB

Applications open until Feb. 1st! I love this program and community and you will, too! @vcucreativewriting @englishvcu -3 years, fully funded -fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction -opportunities to intern with the amazing teams facilitating @blackbirdjournal , @cabellfirstnovelist prize, and the Levis Poetry Prize -work with our phenomenal faculty! Poetry: Edgar Kunz @lockthecashbox ; Devon Walker-Figueroa @madamesosostris ; and Kathy Graber Fiction: Gretchen Comba & SJ Sindu @sjsindu Creative Nonfiction: Sonja Livingston @sonjalivvy and Jessica Hendry Nelson @jhnelson427 -Live in the dream city, Richmond, VA DM me with any questions or insider info!

Richmond folks! TALL WATER book launch will be this Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm at @shelflifebooksrva . Hope to see you there! RSVP at: /e/sj-sindu-author-of-tall-water-in-conversation-with-dr-archana-pathak-tickets-1661236796979

Toronto folks! TALL WATER launch will be at @anotherstorybookshop in partnership with @tamfamlitjam on August 10 at 6pm! I can’t wait to talk to Jananie @thisstoryaintover about my new graphic novel TALL WATER, illustrated by the talented @dionmbd and published by @harpercollinsca @harpercollins @harperalley TALL WATER tells the story of Nimmi, a half-Tamil teenager who travels to Sri Lanka to reconnect with her birth mother after they are separated due to war, only to get caught in the 2004 tsunami that devastated the area. Graphic novel suitable for YA and adult audiences, releasing August 12 worldwide.

Book Announcement! I have a new graphic novel, TALL WATER, coming out from @harpercollins in August, illustrated by the very talented @dionmbd . YA and adult, about a girl who goes back to Sri Lanka to find her birth mother only to get caught in the 2004 tsunami. More info and pre-order: sjsindu.com/tallwater ARCs are currently available on NetGalley and Edelweiss, so you can request through there. Synopsis: Ever since she turned sixteen, Nimmi has wanted to see her mother. Though she has a loving but overprotective father and a budding relationship, she yearns to travel to Sri Lanka to confront the mother who refused to leave the island during a war, not even for Nimmi’s sake. Her father is going back for the first time as a reporter on assignment, but he refuses to take her, deeming Sri Lanka too dangerous. But then Nimmi's mother appears to her in a dream, asking her to come find her, and Nimmi knows she must go. Her father is livid when he sees her at baggage claim, but by then it’s too late, and he reluctantly agrees to help Nimmi make contact with her mother. In Sri Lanka, Nimmi tags along with her father and his guide, past checkpoints and armed soldiers and increasing hints of the war that rages there. However, the day after Christmas, disaster strikes and a tsunami ravages the island. Stranded amid the devastation and destruction, can Nimmi reunite with her mother? Through her journey, Nimmi might just learn that the person she most needed to find was herself.

Great book! Great theme! And even greater nostalgia of ideas a thoughts, and of identity and individuality. The book is a perfect read for people who want a bit of evocative-ness in their life, but also want a not very heart-breaking narrative! Pick this up whenever you are ready! PS: this video was raided :( (you’ll see). #bookreview #blueskinnedgods

Great book launch last night for US FROM NOTHING’s U.S. edition! I got to be in conversation with @geoffbouvier , asking the really tough questions. Thanks to @shelflifebooksrva for hosting!!! This is an amazing book, but also a beautiful one as designed by @blacklawrencepress .