Sonora Jha is the author of the critically acclaimed novel "The Laughter" (Harper Via, 2023), which won the 2024 Washington Book Award for Fiction and received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Bookpage. Her memoir, "How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of My Family" (2021), was published internationally, including editions in the U.S., Germany, Brazil, and India. She also wrote the novel "Foreign" (Random House India, 2013), a finalist for The Hindu Prize for Fiction and the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, which explores the impact of farmers' suicides in India. Her latest novel, "Intemperance" (Harper Via, 2025), continues her literary exploration of complex social themes.
Before becoming a novelist, Jha had a distinguished career as a journalist, covering crime, politics, and culture in India and Singapore. She served as chief of the metropolitan bureau for the Times of India in Bangalore and contributing editor for East magazine before moving to the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in media and public affairs. Her writing, both fiction and nonfiction, interrogates power, race, and gender through an intersectional lens, earning praise for its sharp, perceptive analysis. Celeste Ng described "The Laughter" as "a deliciously sharp, mercilessly perceptive exploration of power."
Jha is a professor of journalism at Seattle University and teaches fiction and essay writing for institutions including Hugo House, Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, and Seattle Public Library. Her op-eds and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Seattle Times, and other prominent publications. An alumna and board member of Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, she has served on juries for literary awards from Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, and Hugo House. Born in Mumbai, Jha continues to write and teach while engaging with pressing social issues through her work.