Finalist, 2024 Giller Prize

Engrossing, witty yet devastating stories about diasporic Indians that deftly question what it means to be safe, to survive, and to call a place home.

An underappreciated coffee shop server haunted by her past attracts thousands of followers on social media with her peacock jewellery. A hotel housekeeper up against a world of gender and class inequity quietly gets revenge on her chauvinist boss. And a foster child, orphaned in an accident directly attributable to climate change, brings down her foster father, an oil lobbyist, in spectacular fashion.

With an intense awareness of privilege and the lack of it, the fourteen stunning stories in Peacocks of Instagram explore what it means to be safe, to survive, and to call a place home.

DEEPA RAJAGOPALAN won the 2021 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies such as the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology, the New Quarterly, Room, the Malahat Review, Event, and Arc. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph. Born to Indian parents in Saudi Arabia, she has lived in many cities across India, the US, and Canada. Deepa works in the tech industry in Toronto.

Deepa Rajagopalan's profile page

• Short-listed, Giller Prize

“Peacocks of Instagram peels back surfaces to reveal surprising and satisfying depths … Rajagopalan throws and pulls problems as ordinary as raw clay into 14 glossy, engrossing, interconnected narratives.” — THIS Magazine

“Rajagopalan communicates so much with so few words; she’s one of the most gifted short-story authors we’ve encountered in quite a while.” — Apple Books

“This collection will appeal to readers who enjoy short fiction about identity and the search for home and meaning, and who like writing from underrepresented communities.” — Winnipeg Free Press

"Rajagopalan shares her wit and appreciation for the beauty around us with warmth, even when talking about the real drama and tragedy perfusing these stories of displacement, class difference, and privilege." — The Miramichi Reader

"Deepa Rajagopalan deftly tackles intricate problems among the Indian diaspora … Peacocks of Instagram is a worthwhile read." — Literary Review of Canada

"An engaging debut." — Booklist

"Rajagopalan has an undeniably empathetic approach to her characters and their struggles." — That Shakespearean Rag