Obama appoints Jhumpa Lahiri to arts committee

Washington, Feb 6: Indian-American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri has been appointed as a member of US President Barack Obama's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, along with five others.

"I am proud that these distinguished individuals will serve in my Administration. The arts and the humanities enhance the vibrancy of our society, inspire us and strengthen our democracy," Obama said in a statement.

"I look forward to working with them in the weeks and months ahead," the US President said.

Besides Lahiri, others appointed to the committee are Chuck Close, Fred Goldring, Sheila Johnson, Pamela Joyner and Ken Solomon, the White House said.

A fiction writer, Lahiri's debut collection of stories Interpreter of Maladies received the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Addison M Metcalf Award and the New Yorker magazine's Debut of the Year.


PTI