Advance Praise
"Drawing on insights from decades of fieldwork and friendship — in Mustang and New York — this luminous, poignant book recasts ethnographic form in swirling bands of short essay, fiction, narrative ethnography, and scholarly commentary."
- Kirin Narayan, author of Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills
"Life at the ends of kinship is exposed here through masterful storytelling, giving us a glimpse into the sadness, hopes and joys of Nepalis on the move."
- Vincanne Adams, University of California, San Francisco
"An exquisite portrait of a community stretched apart by migration and at the same time darned back into new shapes of connection through the world-making ties of kinship."
- Stacy Pigg, Simon Fraser University
Related Resources
Sienna talks about her new book at the Norwich Bookstore on October 29th, 2020.
Sienna talks about her new book alongside novelist Sameer Pandya at Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara, California - October 22nd, 2020.
Sienna is interviewed by Benjamin Linder on the New Books Network, December 2020. Read Linder's review of the book here.
Here is a post Sienna wrote for the University of Washington Press Blog, connecting The Ends of Kinship to COVID-19 in New York City, among Himalayan and Tibetan New Yorkers. (If it does not appear at the top, just search by author or title.)
Voices of the Himalaya: Language, Culture, and Belonging in Immigrant New York explores the lived experiences of migration and social change among Himalayan New Yorkers. In collaboration with community members and scholars of the Himalayan region, the project has been documenting the languages, cultures, social histories, folklore, and community life of Himalayan New Yorkers in over 20 online videos that have now been viewed tens of thousands of times around the world. Recored in a dozen different Himalayan language varieties and subtitled in English, the videos are now an open-access resource, archived at ELA for all who are interested, a space in which kyi-dug, joy and suffering (of immigrant life, in this case) can be shared – to use a uniquely resonant Himalayan word.
Related Art
Bidhata KC is a contemporary artist from Nepal. Her piece, "Shifting Values (8)," is featured on this page, and is part of a series of work she has done inspired by Mustang. Trained in sociology and fine arts, Bidhata has received many awards for her work, including the "Bhadrakumari Ghale Fine Art Award 2020.” More of her work can be found here.