I am an Indian-origin emerging creative writer based in New Zealand, my adopted home country. I am committed to elevating marginalized perspectives. My work also explores existential questions, human suffering and spiritual striving. Born and raised Hindu-Sikh, I am also secular, interfaith, and Catholic-Christian in ethics.
Literary influences: Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Voltaire (Candide), Mark Twain, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Simone Weil, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, D.H. Lawrence, William Styron, Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Flannery O'Connor, Toni Morrison and more.
In another life, I was an English literature researcher and tutor in Brisbane, Australia. I hold an Honours (2002) and a Master's (2014) in English from the University of Canterbury, and a PhD (2018) from the University of Queensland. I have published short fiction and essays in Australia's The Lifted Brow, Overland and ABC Online. I am writing a novel satirizing Hindu fundamentalism and the Indian caste system. This website collates my selected writings in one place. Please go to the WORK tab for more. X: @WRITERRAJIV