Writer Raj Tawney, 37, has won a bronze medal at the 2024 Living Now Book Awards for his book “Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience,” which details his multicultural Bronx family roots through recipes, stories and photos.
The Living Now awards were established in 2008 to recognize creativity and innovation among recently-published lifestyle books, according to the awards website. Tawney’s win in the Inspirational Memoir category is “the cherry on top of a complete ice cream sundae,” he told the Bronx Times.
Tawney grew up mainly on Long Island with a father from Mumbai, India and a Puerto Rican mother from the Bronx. His grandmother lived in the Bronx, and Tawney has fond memories of visiting her to cook and eat together, learning bits of family history.
Food was a big deal within his blended family, who crossed cultural lines in every sense. Tawney’s grandmother, a Puerto Rican Bronxite, was known for cooking the best Italian-style meatballs. His mother and grandmother mastered the North Indian chickpea curry dish, chana masala — and his wife has learned their techniques. “It’s like a family heirloom now.”
Growing up on Long Island, Tawney said a lot of his peers were “scared” of “ethnic food,” and he often felt out of place, straddling cultures without a strong sense of belonging to one. But later in life, he embraced his mixed background and wrote some of his family’s most-loved recipes into the book, with no exact measurements and lots of personal touches.
The recipes “read like poetry, in a way,” Tawney said. “I found it really cathartic to write about all these personal stories in my life.”
Tawney had previously published essays for the New York Times, USA Today, The Guardian and other news publications. But when it came to publishing “Colorful Palate,” he struggled to find a home for it while staying true to his vision.
He eventually worked to sell the book without representation from a literary agent and was thrilled to have it picked up by Fordham University Press, which he called a “full circle moment,” as his mother and grandmother had lived just down the street from campus.
Today, Tawney lives in Florida but visits New York often and still looks to his family for inspiration. His beloved grandmother died in 2018. “She loved the Bronx. She loved where she came from,” he said. Tawney’s mother traveled to 30 countries before marrying, and she went to college later in life, putting herself through nursing school.
“[My parents are] proud of where they came from, but they also wanted to be part of the world,” he said. He created the memoir “not only to understand myself but to honor these people. I love how brave my family was.”
If the Living Now award wasn’t enough, Queensborough Community College is integrating “Colorful Palate” into its English department curriculum this year. Tawney will appear on campus for a lecture in November. “That’s the biggest honor,” he said.
Tawney also has a middle-grade book coming in October called “All Mixed Up,” a fiction novel taking place in New York City in 2002 about a young immigrant boy named Kamal (Tawney’s middle name).
“Boyhood friendship stories are really needed in children’s publishing,” he said.
Tawney will give an author talk at the New York Public Library (branch not yet determined) on Nov. 12. Growing up, the library was “the mecca of our lives,” and sharing one of his own works there feels like a dream, he said.
Tawney — who never shared his writing publicly until age 30 — said he can hardly believe he has an award-winning book that garnered praise from actor John Leguizamo, chef Lidia Bastianich, author Junot Diaz and more, and a second book on the way that is already on the radar of prominent institutions.
“This is crazy,” Tawney said. “I’m so excited to keep writing.”
This article was updated at 1:00 p.m. to reflect that Tawney lives in Florida, not New Jersey.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
