ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council.

Thank you to my colleagues in the World Literature Program at Simon Fraser University—Melek Ortabasi, Ken Seigneurie, Azadeh Yamini-Hamedani and Mark Deggan—for your support over the years. Thanks also to David Chariandy for always being so helpful.

Thanks to Madeleine Thien, Rawi Hage, Aislinn Hunter, David Staines, Anna Rusconi, Rachel Ditor, and Karthika VK for reading earlier versions of some of these stories with so much care and generosity.

Thanks to Neera Agnihotri and Rajesh Mansukhani for your guidance on “Behind the Moon” and “Butter Chicken” respectively.

Thanks to Kristin Cochrane, Louise Dennys, Anne Collins, Rick Meier, Jennifer Lum, Deirdre Molina, Max Arambulo and everyone at Knopf Canada for championing my writing and being such a pleasure to work with.

My gratitude to Karolina Sutton and everyone at Curtis Brown. Your time and efforts are much appreciated.

Thanks to Medaya Ocher and Erika Recordon at the Los Angeles Review of Books for publishing “Behind the Moon”; to Madeleine Thien, Catherine Leroux, Francisco Vilhena and Luke Niema for publishing “Swimming Coach” in Granta; and to Curtis Gillespie for publishing “Circus Wedding” in Eighteen Bridges.

Thank you to Boman Irani for the author photograph and for always making time, no matter how busy you are.

And, finally, to my editor, Lynn Henry, for your faith, vision and guidance—I say the same things again and again, but only because they’re true.