Grubbie Debut: Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, author of Names Have Been Changed, and Chital Mehta, author of Have You Seen Romit?

Event Description

Porter Square Books: Boston Edition and GrubStreet are delighted to present the latest installment of the Grubbie Debut event series, welcoming Yu-Mei Balasingamchow and Chital Mehta to celebrate the release of their respective novels, Names Have Been Changed and Have You Seen Romit?

ABOUT NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

Catch Me If You Can meets Counterfeit in this thrilling debut novel about Ophir—not her real name—who starts a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe, in an unforgettable story about the costs of freedom and the inescapable pull of home.

Ophir’s tale begins in Singapore, where a petty crime spins out of control, estranging her from home and family. Resorting to false identities and forged passports (being mixed-race helps), she crisscrosses the globe from a Paris-themed hostess bar in Tokyo, to a bustling Chinese restaurant in London, to a snowbound mountain town in Colorado and beyond.

Broadcasting from an undisclosed location, Ophir is funny, prickly, tough, and vulnerable, entrancing her listeners with an irresistible, no-holds-barred recounting of not only her crimes (plural) but also her deepest secrets and regrets. Even as she moves seamlessly across class lines and continents, she grapples with the shock of relentless dislocation, a painful reexamination of identity, and a deep yearning for home. She tries to find comfort in new lovers and ill-gotten luxury goods, but she can’t help attracting trouble, and she soon faces an unexpected, high-stakes choice that could change her fate forever.

Names Have Been Changed is a stylish, fast-paced debut novel that reveals the complicated paths we take to build a life and a home. Filled with danger and twists, it’s ultimately a story about immigration and belonging—one unlike any you’ve seen before.

ABOUT HAVE YOU SEEN ROMIT?

When twenty-five-year-old Romit, Usha’s adopted son, doesn’t respond to her calls, she has a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Her husband, Om, who has never accepted their adopted son, tries to convince her to move on. With time, though, it’s clear Usha is right: Romit has gone missing. When the police fail to help, Usha takes matters into her own hands and discovers that Romit went on a trek into the dangerous forests of Sholai in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Although her husband warns Usha to stay put, she leaves for Bengaluru to find Romit.

On her journey she meets Vijaya, a young, fearless, and opinionated trekker fighting her own demons. Together they embark on a dangerous journey into the dense forests of southern India, coming up against unexpected complications. In Have You Seen Romit? the two women of different generations discover they have more in common than they originally thought, and Usha begins to realize that while she may very well discover what happened to Romit, it will come at a cost. Usha, who has always strived to adhere to the societal norms of Indian society, must question everything she once believed in.

Yu-Mei Balasingamchow’s debut novel, Names Have Been Changed, has been named an anticipated release by NPR, Electric Lit, Kirkus, and more. Her stories have received a Pushcart Prize Special Mention, won the Mississippi Review Fiction Prize, and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She is originally from Singapore and lives in Boston. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University and has received grants and fellowships from the Ucross Foundation, Elizabeth George Foundation and Sewanee Writers Conference, among others. She teaches at GrubStreet and is editor at Gaudy Boy, an NYC-based independent press that publishes Asian voices.

Chital Mehta, born and raised in India, spent her twenties experimenting with writing YA novels. Her new novel Have You Seen Romit? has been chosen as the winner of the 2025 James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, and won this year's AWP Award Series. Her short stories have appeared in The Pinch, Oyez Review, SLAB magazine, and elsewhere. She won the Boggs Fiction contest 2022 for her story 'Damaged Gifts,' and her story 'The Weight of Happiness' was a finalist for The Pinch's 2022 Literary Awards in Fiction. She is an alum of Tin House and VONA and holds an MFA from Lindenwood University. She lives in Delaware with her husband and children, where she is working on her next novel and a collection of short stories based on Asian immigrant themes.