anuradha roy

This is a Guest Post by Madhumita Mazumdar, who discovered an intriguing story behind the flowers and foliage planned for the city she lives in, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Photograph by Partha Chowdhury shows an avenue of Amaltas ( Cassia Fistula ) in Dwarka, Delhi One of the many things I loved about Myshkin Chand Rozario, one of the enigmatic protagonists of Anuradha Roy’s novel All the Lives We Never Lived , was his job as Horticultural Superintendent in the small town of Muntazir in the foothills of the Himalayas. Though often derided as “glorified gardner” Myshkin took immense pride in what he believed was his precious bequest to the little town -- its rows of carefully planted sheltering and flowering trees along major roads and pathways. He knew well he where he had to plant the white and purple orchids, the flaming red Gulmohurs, the Amaltases, the brilliantly hued kachnars, the softer pastels of the resham ruis. The streets were colour coded around the images their n...

The Rosalind Wilson Memorial Lecture has been a fixture on the Delhi school calendar for more than twenty years, and has featured writers such as Vikram Seth and William Dalrymple.  This year, the book being discussed was All the Lives We Never Lived . Springdales School organizes the discussion to honour the memory of Rosalind Wilson, who taught there. She was an English teacher at the school and also served as the head of the English department. She later founded and edited the popular children magazine Target . She died at the age of 49 in 1992. The Principal of the school, Mrs Ameeta Mulla Wattal, wrote in with this report of the discussion, which took place on 14th December 2018.    "The book discussion was riveting. Over 150 students across schools in the National Capital Region participated. All students had not only read the book but were very perceptive in giving their views on the issues in the novel. Gender justice, the politics of colonialists, qu...

All the Lives We Never Lived won the Tata Book of the Year Award on the 18th of November in Bombay, India. Speaking of the book, the judges said that its prose was "glittering" and that the book "did not put one foot wrong" in dealing with complex and varying themes. Also on the shortlist were Janice Pariat's Nine-Chambered Heart and Tabish Khair's Night of Happiness.

20 November:  Publication Day in the US and Canada.  The pre-publication reviews have been wonderful, and the book has featured in several lists of essential reading, including TIME and WASHINGTON POST . It has also been listed in Bustle , Entertainment Weekly , The Millions , LitHub , Afar , and Shelf Awareness , among others. Book Riot 's quirky Horoscopes and Book Recommendations for November recommends it especially for Librans! "Roy’s skillful blending–of fact and fiction, of personal and political, and of suspense and reward–creates a rich and layered read. But the modern resonances of rising nationalism, in India and beyond, ensure that Roy’s story of what happened in Muntazir transcends its own pages. “Once the letter was read,” Myshkin says, “it would be over and I would have to start waiting again.” It’s a feeling readers may well share." Naina Bajekal, Time "Lyrical, subtle, [and] finely observant... A novel of history, both global and...

SESSION: FEAST AND FICTION, AT THE BRIDGES, BALI A PREVIOUS VISITOR TO WALTER SPIES' HOUSE IN ISEH: DAVID BOWIE AT VILLA ISEH, BALI, WALTER SPIES' OLD BAMBOO HUT IS NOW A BEAUTIFUL BOUTIQUE HOTEL SESSION: WHAT A MAP CUTS UP; ABOUT BOUNDARIES, NATIONALISM, ART, WRITING SESSION: CARL HOFFMAN SPEAKING SPEAKING ON THE WILD MEN OF BORNEO NOTES AND THOUGHTS A SISTERHOOD OF GREAT READERS SESSION: FEAST AND FICTION; FATIMA BHUTTO TALKING ABOUT THE RUNAWAYS SESSION: THE BIG READ. STORYTELLING, PLAIN AND SIMPLE QUESTIONS, ANSWERS SESSION: FEAST & FICTION, GAIL JONES SPEAKING ON THE DEATH OF NOAH GLASS UNASKED QUESTIONS SESSION: ISLANDS OF INSPIRATION  WHERE WILL BUCKINGHAM, CARL HOFFMAN AND I TALKED ABOUT THE CONNECTION OUR BOOKS HAVE TO INDONESIA MY BOOK WILL JOIN THE THE OTHERS IN THE WALTER SPIES BOOKSHELF IN HIS OLD HOME IN ISEH SESSION: FEAST AND FICTION. A MEMENTO SARASWATI, GODDESS OF LEARNING A...

This has been a dizzying couple of weeks. All the Lives we Never Lived was shortlisted, on 3rd October, for the JCB Literature Prize. And today it has been announced that it is part of the longlist for DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.   "The longlist represents the best of South Asian fiction writing over the last year and includes submissions from a diverse mix of publishers and authors of different backgrounds writing on a wide range of issues and themes. The novels include stunning portrayals of migration, war and the pain of displacement, poignant love stories, the exploration of new found relationships and identities, and vivification of the personal struggles, hopes and aspirations that symbolize the urgent and divisive realities of contemporary South Asian life," the Prize committee said in a statement. Apart from authors based in South Asia, it also features those based outside the region who have brought alive the subtle nuances of South Asian life and cult...