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Amitav Ghosh to deliver special lecture at COA
The acclaimed author will explore the 2004 tsunami memory and ocean histories in his speech.
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Anushka Pathak - Tue, 17, Mar 2026
- 15:08 EDT
- 11
Amitav Ghosh / Facebook/University of Chicago Press
Renowned Indian author and scholar Amitav Ghosh is set to present a special lecture on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at College of the Atlantic (COA).
The lecture, titled “Stories from the Edge of the Sea: Memory, Catastrophe, and the Indian Ocean,” is scheduled for April 9.
The event forms part of the Gillis Blue Humanities Forum, an interdisciplinary series dedicated to examining oceans, waterways, and aquatic life as key influences on culture, history, and environmental thought.
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In the talk, Ghosh will reflect on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, using storytelling, history, and environmental perspectives to analyze the disaster. According to the organizers, his talk will draw from his three-part essay on the event and its consequences to show how the ocean links distant cultures and how catastrophic moments uncover longer histories of empire, migration, and ecological shifts.
The lecture will blend personal narrative with broader insights and prompt consideration of the sea's role in memory. As the event description states, the talk invites audiences to ponder “what the sea remembers and what it asks us to remember in return.”
Ghosh has authored over 15 major works, including nine novels such as ‘Sea of Poppies,’ ‘The Hungry Tide,’ and ‘The Glass Palace.’ His nonfiction includes ‘The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable.’
He has received major honors, including India's Jnanpith Award (as the first English-language recipient), the Padma Shri, the Erasmus Prize in 2024, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His writings appear in outlets like The New Yorker and The New York Times, with translations in more than 30 languages.
The lecture will take place at the Davis Center for Human Ecology in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The forum convenes scholars, artists, and activists to reconsider human connections to water amid climate change and ecological challenges. It was established in honor of ocean historian John Gillis by his wife, Tina.
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