Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Celina Baljeet Basra Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Celina Baljeet Basra
Portrait: Lilian Scarlet Löwenbrück, Berlin 2022.

Celina Baljeet Basra

Celina Baljeet Basra Biography

Celina Baljeet Basra is a writer and cultural worker based in Berlin. She is a founder of the Department of Love, a curatorial collective. Happy is her first novel.

Celina Baljeet Basra's website

This bio was last updated on 01/02/2024. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Interview

"I am a gulmohar tree, in full bloom: A Conversation with Celina Baljeet Basra about Happy"— Curated by author Tiffany Troy for the Tupelo Quarterly.


Tiffany Troy: I am so curious about the novel's title, Happy, and the choice of the character's name as Happy Singh. The name "Happy" is common as a nickname and so is the last name "Singh." Why did you create the persona of "Happy"? What joy and surprises do you believe this character brings to the readership?

Celina Baljeet Basra: Happy was always going to be Happy––ever since I thought about this novel for the very first time––about twenty years ago––I stuck with the title. Happy's reality, of course, for a large part of the novel, is anything but happy, even if he does try to find joy in it all. The dissonance between the title and the narrative lies at the heart of the novel, and this is amplified by Alex Merto's genius cover: a smile so wide it almost hurts.

TT: I too adore the genius cover because the yellow really conveys that smiley face giddiness that is betrayed when you flip the cover to its back. Can you talk to us about the process of putting together the collection of short stories that incorporate a myriad of forms, from "group text messages" to "interviews," and in thinking about rewriting European myths–and maybe White capitalism–by extension, in a Punjabi ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Celina Baljeet Basra at BookBrowse
Happy jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Celina Baljeet Basra but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Fabio Geda

    Fabio Geda

    Born in Turin in 1972, Fabio Geda is an Italian novelist who works with children in difficulties. He writes for several Italian magazines and newspapers, and teaches creative writing at the Italian school of storytelling, ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Happy

    Try:
    In the Sea There are Crocodiles
    by Fabio Geda

  • Jhumpa Lahiri

    Jhumpa Lahiri

    Jhumpa Lahiri, a bilingual writer and translator, is the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Barnard College (Columbia University). She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Happy

    Try:
    Roman Stories
    by Jhumpa Lahiri

We recommend 3 similar authors

View all 3 Read-Alikes

Non-members can see 2 results. Become a member
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Our Evenings
    Our Evenings
    by Alan Hollinghurst
    Alan Hollinghurst's novel Our Evenings is the fictional autobiography of Dave Win, a British ...
  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Don't join the book burners. Don't think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever ...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.