Members of the Keene State community were honored at the 2025 NH Literary Awards hosted by the NH Writers Project on October 18 in Manchester.
English Professor Brinda Charry was nominated for her book “The East Indian.” The book received the Outstanding Works of Literature Award in the Fiction category. Charry’s book also received the NH Humanities Award, which honors someone who has had a significant impact on the humanities in the state, presented jointly by the NHWP and NH Humanities.
According to Charry, “The East Indian” tells the story of the first person of South Asian descent to live in 1600s colonial America.
“It’s not really known at all that people of Asian descent came to America that long ago,” Charry said. “I think it gave me a chance to really write a story that encompasses several continents and was really about how a single life was influenced by huge global changes that were taking place at the time.”
“I put a lot of love and labor into it, and so it’s nice to know that it’s spoken to some people,” Charry added.
“The East Indian” also received the Society of American Historians Prize, also known as the James Fenimore Cooper Prize, for Historical Fiction. It has been shortlisted for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, an award honoring authors’ debut books. It has also been longlisted for the Mark Twain Voice in Literature Prize, an award honoring works of fiction that speak with an “American Voice” about American issues.
Keene State junior Lochan Sharma was also nominated for his book “Go Home,” which was co-written with Terry Farish, a local author. “Go Home” received the Outstanding Works of Literature Award in the Young Adult Literature category.
“Go Home” is written from two different perspectives. Farish wrote the point of view of Olive, a white New Hampshire teen, while Sharma wrote the point of view of Samir, a Nepali immigrant teen who moves in across the street from Olive.
“There was just a lot of weaving through the plot as we made discoveries about what was culturally accurate for the Bhutanese-Nepali family,” Farish said.
Farish said her favorite part of the writing process was the learning.
“Sometimes, as a writer, just being with people helps you understand their world,” she said. “I had written a book about these teenagers and I spent five years within the community, and I love that part of it. I absolutely love that part because it’s all discovery, it’s about discovery of yourself as a writer.”
Sharma said that Farish, who previously knew his family, approached him to ask for his help with co-writing.
“She [Farish] had an idea of what the story would be about, and thought it would be good to get an input of an immigrant and the voice of a younger generation closer to the main character of the book,” Sharma said.
“I’m happy that this book is getting recognition, not only for selfish reasons, but also seeing that books written by authors with little experience can get the recognition based on their own merit,” Sharma added. “I never thought I would get an award like this, especially not when I started on the book five years ago.”
Emily Sloane can be contacted at
esloane@kscequinox.com
