caption children birth_place imagesize nationality notableworks birth_date image article_title name alma_mater
choden . after a book reading in washington , dc 2 daughters , 1 son bumthang district , bhutan 150px bhutanese the circle of karma 1952 kunzang choden.jpg kunzang choden
 kunzang choden university of nebraska-lincoln
kunzang choden

kunzang choden -lrb- born 1952 -rrb- is a bhutanese writer .
she is the first bhutanese woman to write a novel in english .
choden was born in bumthang district .
her parents were feudal landlords .
at the age of nine , her father sent her to school in india , where she learned english .
she has a ba honours in psychology from indraprastha college in delhi and a ba in sociology from the university of nebraska-lincoln .
she has worked for the united nations development program in bhutan .
she and her swiss husband currently live in thimphu .
`` the circle of karma '' , published 2005 , is her first novel .
it takes place in the 1950s , the initial period of imperially regulated modernization in bhutan .
the main character , a bhutanese woman and road-builder by occupation , is forced to deal both with the traditional , restrictive gender roles of pre-modern bhutan and the new kinds of sexism developing as men gain economic freedom .
