Deepa Rajagopalan won the 2021 PEN/RBC Canada New Voices award, bestowed annually upon a promising unpublished writer, with her short story Peacocks of Instagram, which is now the title story of her fascinating, much-anticipated debut short-story collection. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Deepa Rajagopalan won the 2021 PEN/RBC Canada New Voices award, bestowed annually upon a promising unpublished writer, with her short story Peacocks of Instagram, which is now the title story of her fascinating, much-anticipated debut short-story collection. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Deepa Rajagopalan won the 2021 PEN/RBC Canada New Voices award, bestowed annually upon a promising unpublished writer, with her short story Peacocks of Instagram, which is now the title story of her fascinating, much-anticipated debut short-story collection.
The collection includes a few of the author’s short stories that have appeared in various journals and anthologies, as well as some new material. Born in Saudi Arabia to parents from India, Rajagopalan writes about women of the Indian diaspora across the world. She was recently named by CBC as one of 30 writers to watch in 2024.
In the title story, a woman works in a coffee shop, but has a side hustle selling peacock-themed accessories. The story quickly takes us into the personal life of the person smiling behind the counter: something readers may not oft.