On September 9, 2015, the American Library hosted American Writer Nina McCongiley via Skype to share her thoughts and experiences growing up in the rural, under-populated western state of Wyoming with an Indian mother, an Irish father, and a totally American life. Forty literature students from Chennai colleges questioned Nina on how this experience shaped her as an author and how they can use their personal experiences in their writing. Nina shared her feelings of being an “outsider,” with a home that her mother made a “little India,” combined with her pride and love for Tamil culture and people. Now a professor at the University of Wyoming, Nina lived in Chennai previously and returns to visit as often as she can. Her most recent book Cowboys and East Indians, a collection of short stories, won the PEN award and she is currently at work on a new book set in Chennai.
