Episode 4: Vauhini Vara's "This is Salvaged"
Vauhini Vara’s stories in “This is Salvaged” are wholly unexpected. They are unpretty stories featuring flawed, unpretty characters, marked by loss, grief, addiction. But there is humour here, and lightness too, moments of hope and connection and clarity. In "The Irates" a young woman struggles to deal with the death of her brother, in a most unexpected way. In "I Buffalo" an alcoholic tries to hide her addiction from her family but finds an unexpected bond with her young niece. In "The Hormone Hypothesis", two women bond over shared grief — as they both go through yet another biological shift. Through the fragments of the stories in "This is Salvaged" we are allowed a glimpse into ourselves. Vauhini Vara is a writer — a journalist, editor, novelist, short story writer, essayist, and playwright, based in Colorado. Her debut novel, "The Immortal King Rao" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It won the Colorado Book Award and several literary prizes India in 2022.