Varun Gauri was born in India and raised in the American Midwest. After studying philosophy in college and public policy in graduate school, he worked for more than two decades on global poverty and human rights, publishing academic articles and books on development economics and behavioral economics. He now teaches at Princeton University and lives in Bethesda, Maryland. His short fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and recognized in Best American Nonrequired Reading. His debut novel, For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus, was selected for NPR’s Books We Love 2024, chosen as a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award Winner in Adult Fiction, and won the 2024 Carol Trawick Fiction Prize.
