Arundhati Roy

"Born in 1961 in Bengal, Arundhati Roy grew up in Kerala.
She trained as an architect at the Delhi School of
Architecture, but became better known for her complex, scathing film scripts. She wrote and starred in In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, and wrote the script for Pradip Kishen's Electric Moon. Media attention came when she spoke out in suapport of Phoolan Devi, who she felt had been exploited by Shekhar Kapur's film Bandit Queen.

The controversy escalated into a court case, after
which she retired to private life to work on her first book, The God of Small Things, which was published in 1997. The half-million pound advance on this book, more than Vikram Seth's for A Suitable Boy, shot her to fame again. As the daughter of Mary Roy, the woman whose court
case changed the inheritance laws in favour of women, she was closely acquainted with the Syrian Christian traditions which feature prominently in the book. She says "a feminist is a woman who negotiates herself into a position where she has choices.."

The God of Small Things, won Britain's premier
book prize, the Booker McConnell, in 1997.
Although Indian authors such as Salman Rushdie
and Rohinton Mistry have featured in the Booker
shortlist, and Rushdie's Midnight's Children won
the 'Booker of Bookers', Roy is the first non-expatriate Indian author and the first Indian woman to have won this prize. To top it all, this happened in 1997, India's 50th anniversary of independence from Britain. As always, the exclusions and choices of the Booker judges created some controversy, with some critics praising the lush imagery of Roy's book while others referred to it as 'tripe'.
The book has also attracted a lawsuit and angry criticism from Kerala's leftists. Newsclips follow.

Much speculation ensued about her next project: would it be a play, another novel, or poetry? Roy squelched the gossip by saying that she might never write another novel and had no intentions of trying to rival the success of her first. In keeping with her longtime interest in social issues, she has immersed herself in causes such as the anti-nuclear movement and the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Her two major essays, The End of Imagination and The Greater Common Good are available online as well as in print. Her personal fame has drawn attention and donations to these causes, and she has also made significant monetary contributions herself. Her involvement in these causes has also attracted controversy, with some criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. See the newsclips
below for details.

On the US and Afghanistan

The Algebra of Infinite Justice. The Guardian, 29 Sep 01. See also Culture Clash -- a response by Salil Tripathi, and ..algebra doesn't add up, a response by Vijay Dandapani. Insult and Injury in Afghanistan. MSNBC, 20 Oct 2001.

War is Peace. In Outlook, 29 Oct 01.

Stop bombing Afghanistan. Roy says that war cannot eradicate terrorism, while in Paris accepting a humanitarian award.

The Narmada Dam

The Greater Common Good. Roy writes about the
Narmada Dam in Outlook. 24 Mar 99.
Poetic Licence, B.G. Verghese's rejoinder to this essay. The Greater Common Good II, a response by Roy. Friends of the River Narmada, an anti-dam organization Indian Supreme Court unhappy with NBA leaders and Arundhati Roy. Hindu, 16 Oct 99.

Bombs and dams Roy is interviewed by the Sydney
Morning Herald, 30 Sep 99.
Can Medha Patkar win the Booker? Mahesh Nair
criticizes Roy's social activism, in Rediff.
Novelist turned social activist. Christian Science
Monitor, 17 Aug 99.

Indian Booker Prize winner turns eco-warrior.
AFP, 29 Jul 99.
BBC interview about the dam. Jul 99.
Interview in The Week, 1 Aug 99.
Threat to burn copies of Roy's article.
Gujarat bans Arundhati, other's entry. Hindustan
Times, 2 Aug 99.
Anil Nair criticizes Roy's activist articles in Rediff.
Roy is in court facing charges of contempt and
inciting violence. BBC.

Activism

Speech at the opening of the Hague Appeal for Peace conference, 1999. The Art of Spinning: How Uncle Sam turns Indian gold into straw. Roy writes about the relentless march of globalization and what it means for the people of the Third World. In tehelka.com The End of Imagination Roy on India's Nuclear Bomb. August 1998.
Roy donates a Malayalam edition of the book to
support Dalits and Dalit literature. Hindu, Feb 99.
Roy slams rising fundamentalism. 9 Feb 99.
The Great Indian Rape-Trick. Roy's biting criticism
of Shekhar Kapur's film about Phoolan Devi, 'Bandit Queen'. A pair of articles which led to a court case in 1994.

I wish I had the guts to shut up. Paul Kingsnorth
interviews Roy in SanctuaryAsia.
The Progressive Interview. David Barsamian
interviews Roy about her latest book, Power Politics, and other issues.
You need a Chomsky. Tehelka interview, Mar 2001.

Rediff special on Arundhati Roy
An unsuitable girl. Maya Jaggi in Electronic Mail
and Guardian.
The Girl Next Door -- at a book signing in Bangalore.
The Creative Rebel from Pugmarks,
Real Audio of Roy on NPR, aired June 16, 1997.
Gita Mehta, Salman Rushdie, and Arundhati Roy
discuss India's independence and the effect it's had
on politics, culture and religions. Real Audio, from
NPR's Talk of the Nation. August 14, 1997.
Bio, and description/pictures of "Ayamenem country".

Carefully analyzes the correspondence between real
life and fiction in the book. The Week. Oct 97.
Jon's Arundhati Roy web page covers her childhood, life, writing, the Booker, controversy and the future.

About the book

No small achievement -- Ruth Vanita's review in
Manushi Hype hype Hooray -- an article about Roy, the book and the Booker in Irish Times. 18 Oct 97. Review from WordsWorth

Review from Pugmarks

Alice Truax in the New York Times Book Review.
Michiko Kakatuni in the New York Times
Wordsworth interview with Roy
Roy on NPR's Morning Edition, 12 Aug 1997.
Caste and the God of Small Things -- a discussion
from Emory U.'s postcolonial site.

The Booker
The God of Small Things wins the 1997 Booker Prize A summary of the 1997 Booker shortlist
Shortlisting Opinion -- an entertaining discussion
of inclusions and exclusions from the Booker
shortlists over the years, and the response of
the authors. Nilanjana Roy in Business Standard,
18 Oct 97.

Critiques and Controversy
Court summons Arundhati Roy -- an ongoing update of Sabu Thomas' lawsuit against Roy and the book.
The Brit reaction to the Booker
Roy wins, amid rumblings of discontent
Cloud over writer's win. Sydney Morning Herald,
16 Oct 97. No longer available on their web site.
The Book(er) of the year -- author Ranga Rao
analyses the reactions to Arundhati Roy's book
in a two-part article in the Hindu. Nov 1997.
The Booker Prize, a discussion from Emory U's
postcolonial site.

Kerala's Communists react

Kerala leftists see red over Roy's book. Deccan
Herald, Oct 16, 1997. (no longer available on the
DH web site) Angry attacks from Kerala Communist E.M.
Namboodiripad, who is caricatured in the book.
Nayanar pours scorn on Roy, and likens her to
VS Naipaul. Deccan Herald, Oct 31. (no longer
available on the DH web site)
Sexual anarchy leitmotiv of Roy's Booker book,
says EMS Namboodiripad. Deccan Herald, Nov 28, 1997. (no longer available on the DH web site)."
More on her Writings

Visit her Website

Listen to her on line at
'Flashpoints Radio with Dennis Bernstein, 94.1 FM,
KPFA, Berkeley - Your Hard-Hitting Daily Investigative Radio Magazine'
http://www.flashpoints.net/index-2001-10-23to26.html#1026