What is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni?
{{Infobox writer | image = ChitraBanerjeeDivakaruni.JPG | imagesize = 220px | name = Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = Chitralekha Banerjee | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|7|29|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3416300043/divakaruni-chitra-banerjee-1956.html |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> | birth_place = [[Kolkata]], India | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Writer | nationality = [[Indian-American]] | alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]<br/>[[Wright State University]]<br/>[[University of California, Berkeley]] | period = | genre = Poetry, short stories, novels; fantasy, young adult, magical realism, historical fiction | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''[[Mistress of Spices]]'' | influences = | influenced = | awards = | website = {{URL|www.chitradivakaruni.com}} | spouse = Murthy | children = Abhay, Anand }} '''Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni''' is an [[Indian-American]] [[author]] and [[poet]]. She writes for both adults and children. In 1991 her first collection of poems, ''Black Candle'', was published.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bookslut.com/features/2013_08_020206.php|title=Bookslut - An Interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni|website=www.bookslut.com|access-date=2013-12-31|archive-date=2013-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017040044/http://www.bookslut.com/features/2013_08_020206.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1995 she won the [[American Book Award]] for ''Arranged Marriage: Stories''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Previous Winners of the American Book Award |url=http://www.beforecolumbusfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Aba2001prior.pdf |accessdate=31 October 2021}}</ref> Her 1997 [[novel]] ''Mistress of Spices'' was made into a [[movie]]. ==Early life== Divakaruni was born in [[Kolkata]] (earlier known as ''Calcutta''), [[West Bengal]], India. She studied B.A. from the [[University of Calcutta]] in 1976. Then she went to the United States