Devi S. Laskar – författare

For fans ofThe Burning Girlby Claire Messud andBurnt Sugarby Avni Doshi, a stunning, gut-punch of a novel that follows a young Indian American woman who, in the wake of tragedy, mustnavigateher family'sexpectationsas she grapples withacomplicated love and loss.On the cusp of her eighteenth birthday, Heera and her best friends, siblings Marie and Marco, teasethe fun out of life in Raleigh, North Carolina, with acts ofrebellion anddelinquency. They paint the towns water towers with red anarchy symbols and hang out at the local bus station to pickpocket money for their Great Escape to New York. But no matter how much Heera defies her strict upbringing, shes always avoided any real dangeruntil one devastating night changes everything.In its wake, Marco reinvents himself as Crash and spends his days womanizing and burning through a string of jobs. Meanwhile, Heeras dream to go to college in New York is suddenly upended. Over the years, Heeras and Crashs paths cross and recross on a journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, and betrayals.Heart-wrenching, darkly funny, and buoyed by gorgeous prose,Circais at once an irresistible love story and a portrait of a young woman torn between duty and her own survival, between obligation and freedom.

Taboos and Transgressions: Stories of Wrongdoings, is an anthology that includes fiction and nonfiction. It was edited by Luanne Smith, Kerry Neville, and Devi S. Laskar, and focuses on breaking the rules with stories by Pam Houston, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Joyce Carol Oates, and Kim Addonizio alongside exceptional work by both noted and emerging writers. The anthology offers a scope of voices, styles, stories, and wrongdoings. From infidelity to family prejudices, from breaking the law to broken promises, from losing everything to finding empowerment, characters in these pieces offer a look at stepping over the line in all too human ways.Edited by Luanne Smith, Kerry Neville, and Devi S. Laskar, the anthology represents the best of both solicited and unsolicited work. Unsolicited material has been read by judge Maurice Carlos Ruffin and prizes awarded to one winning story and two runners up.