Will the Flower Slip Through the Asphalt

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and spent his childhood in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and northern India. He studied in Delhi, Oxford and Egypt and has taught in a number of Indian and American Universities. He is the author of three previous, highly acclaimed novels: The Calcutta Chromosome, the Shadow Lines and The Glass Palace. He is married and lives in New York.

Dr. Vijay Prashad is Associate Professor and Director of International Studies, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, USA. He is the author of five books: Untouchable Freedom: A Social History of a Dalit Community (Oxford, 1999); Karma of Brown Folk (Minnesota, 2000; chosen as one of the 25 books of the year by the Village Voice); Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity (Beacon, 2001; chosen as one of the 25 best books of the year by the Village Voice); War Against the Planet: The Fifth Afghan War, US Imperialism and Other Assorted Fundamentalisms (Leftword, 2002); Fat Cats and Running Dogs: The Enron Stage of Capitalism (Common Courage, Leftword and Zed Books, 2002)