Vikram Chandra

Visit the Houston Public Library downtown for a free author event and Tech Art Expo.

Vikram Chandra, author of Geek Sublime, will be interviewed by Houston author Chitra Divakaruni. A book signing will follow the presentation.

Interactive activities presented by Code Park, Iron Yard, TX/RX Labs, and Pop Shop Houston

Location: Central Library Street: 500 McKinney Additional: Program Place, 4th Floor City: Houston, Province: Texas Postal Code: 77002 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

This illuminating essay collection by the author of the award-winning novel Sacred Games is a thought-provoking exploration of another type of writing: computer coding. A longtime programmer, Chandra uses his parallel experiences to open up terms like “elegance,” considering how beauty works in both the artistic and technological realms and finding unsuspected connections between them. (Graywolf)

Chandra will be in conversation with novelist Howard Norman.

Beer and wine will be available.

Street: 5015 Connecticut Ave NW City: Washington, Province: District Of Columbia Postal Code: 20008 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Credit: Melanie Abrams

Premier Event: Vikram Chandra in conversation with Nick Taylor

Friday, October 3, 7:30 p.m.

Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty

"Computing has transformed all our lives, but the processes and culture which produce software remain largely opaque, alien, unknown...Whenever I tell one of my fellow authors that I supported myself through the writing of my first novel by working as a programmer and a computer consultant, I evoke a response that mixes bemusement, bafflement, and a touch of awe, as if I'd just said that I could levitate...Many programmers, on the other hand, regard themselves as artists." - Vikram Chandra We’re thrilled to see Vikram Chandra’s Geek Sublime getting so much positive news coverage from The New York Times Sunday Book Review, The Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more!! This book truly has something for everyone: it offers a textured history of the tech industry both in the United States and India tracing the evolution of modern programming and corresponding social and cultural politics. He ponders many questions including: How do we approach computer code as an aesthetic object? What makes beautiful code? How is code similar to poetry? What ideological work is performed by the tech industry? How did programming become gendered male in the U.S.? And his prose, stunning and accessible!!! Vikram Chandra is the author of three works of fiction, most recently Sacred Games, which won the Hutch Crossword Award for English Fiction for 2006 and a Salon Book Award for 2007; it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, was included on numerous “Best of the Year” lists and received lavish critical acclaim. He is the co-writer of the well-known film "Mission Kashmir", and the New Yorker named him one of "India's leading novelists." His novels have been translated into nineteen languages. Vikram worked with John Barth at Johns Hopkins and with Donald Barthelme at the University of Houston. Chandra currently divides his time between Mumbai and Berkeley, California, where he teaches creative writing at the University of California. Nick Taylor is the author of the historical novels The Disagreement and Father Junípero's Confessor. He has also published a thriller, The Setup Man, under the pseudonym T.T. Monday. Here are some great reviews of Geek Sublime as well as an interview with Vikram Chandra! The New York Times Sunday Book Review The Guardian San Francisco Chronicle Interview on Flavorwire NEW! New Republic NEW! San Francisco Chronicle: Geeks will love Vikram Chandra’s new book 'Geek Sublime’

Location: Street: 1010 El Camino Real City: Menlo Park, Province: California Postal Code: 94025-4349 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Indian American author Vikram Chandra has been a computer programmer all his life, embracing the elegance of code alongside his love of words. His latest book, Geek Sublime: Writing Fiction, Coding Software is an ode to language, literary theory and technology.

Utterly original and packed with fresh ideas, in Geek Sublime Vikram departs from his stellar career as an award-winning fiction writer to explore how connected his two passions really are. Jumping between art, science and Indian history, this collection of mind-bending essays examines geek culture through an aesthetic prism and in the process discovers how both code and literature go beyond consciousness to reinvent language and change the way we look at the world.

Vikram’s debut novel Red Earth and Pouring Rain won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and his most recent Sacred Games, is a 900-page epic set in Mumbai. He’ll be joined on stage by host Vanessa Toholka.

Vikram Chandra

Vikram Chandra was born in New Delhi, but travelled to the United States as an undergraduate student where he studied at Pomona College (in Claremont, near Los Angeles) and later the Film School at Columbia University in New York.

Vanessa Toholka

Vanessa Toholka is a knowledge management consultant, with over fourteen years experience working in online content and strategy. She specialises in research and development, producing digital applications for the education, media and legal industries. (rodneyvc)… (more)