Arundhati Roy is a highly acclaimed Indian author, born on November 24, 1961, in Shillong, India. She is best known for her groundbreaking work, "The God of Small Things," a novel that won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997. This book became an international bestseller, making Roy the biggest selling Indian author who was not an expatriate. It was translated into more than forty languages, solidifying Roy's reputation as a formidable and influential writer.
In addition to her work as an author, Roy is also a prominent social activist, focusing on issues related to social justice, economic inequality, and political corruption. Her activism has earned her several awards, including the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation in 2002. Roy's work as an activist has been just as influential as her writing, making her a powerful voice for change in India and beyond.
Roy has written several other books, including two screenplays and several collections of essays. Some of her notable works include "Field Notes on Democracy," "Walking with the Comrades," "Capitalism: A Ghost Story," "The End of Imagination," and "Things That Can and Cannot Be Said," which she co-authored with John Cusack. Roy's writing has been praised for its clarity, depth, and intellectual rigor, and she has been recognized with numerous awards for her contributions to literature and social justice. These include the 2002 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Prize, the 2011 Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing, and the 2015 Ambedkar Sudar award. Despite facing criticism and even threats for her activism, Roy continues to be a powerful voice for change, using her writing as a tool for social justice and political transformation.