Rabindranath Maharaj is a Trinidadian-Canadian author whose literary career took root after his immigration to Canada in the early 1990s. After completing an M.A. at the University of New Brunswick and settling in Ajax, Ontario, he established a body of work that frequently explores the complexities of the immigrant experience. This central theme is captured in his novel The Amazing Absorbing Boy, which won both the Trillium Book Award and the Toronto Book Award. The novel’s exploration of a young newcomer navigating a strange, comic-book-like urban reality serves as a touchstone for Maharaj’s broader bibliography, mirroring the displacement and adaptation found throughout his writing.
This narrative thread of finding one’s place in a new landscape runs through his other major novels, including A Perfect Pledge, a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and Homer in Flight, which was a finalist for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. His more recent works, such as the Foreword Indies Silver Medal winner Fatboy Fall Down and the ReLit-shortlisted Adjacentland, continue to examine the internal and external lives of those existing between different worlds. His short story collections, including The Interloper, The Writer and His Wife, The Book of Ifs and Buts, and A Quiet Disappearance also explore the subtle nuances of cultural transition.
Beyond his fiction, Maharaj has been involved in the literary community as a co-founder of LICHEN literary magazine and co-editor of the anthology Luminous Ink. His contributions to Canadian and Caribbean literature have been honored with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a Lifetime Literary Award from Trinidad’s National Library and Information System Authority. As a mentor, he has held positions at the Humber School for Writers and the Banff Writing Studio. He has also written reviews for The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. His books have been published in Canada, the US, the UK, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
A detailed list of his books, as well as reviews and various editions, can be found on the Books page. A complete online media CV can be found here.
Rabindranath Maharaj 
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