Lahiri is a Bengali-American author whose debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, garnered the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. Her first novel, The Namesake, was adapted into a 2007 movie.

Lahiri was born in London in 1967 to Indian immigrants. The family moved to Rhode Island when she was three and Lahiri stayed there until she left for Barnard College in 1989. After graduation she received a slew of other degrees, including two M.A.s, an M.F.A, and a Ph.D before her debut collection was published in 1999. Interpreter of Maladies, like most of Lahiri's stories, deals with first and second generation Indian immigrants. The story collection was not only Lahiri's first published work, but also only the seventh story collection to ever win a Pulitzer. In 2003, Lahiri published her first novel, The Namesake, which was adapted into a movie starring Kal Penn (or, as most people know him, Kumar). Her most recent work, Unaccustomed Earth, was another collection of stories which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best seller list in 2008.

Lahiri's work is regularly published in The New Yorker and, in 2010, President Obama appointed her as a member to the Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She also worked on the third season of In Treatment, both as a writer and cultural consultant.

Lahiri is married to Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush, the Senior Editor of Fox News Latino. They live in Brooklyn with their two children, Octavio and Noor. [Image via Getty]