Noted Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the prestigious Dan David Prize for his remarkable reworking of the great tradition of the Western novel in transnational terms.
Amitav Ghosh discusses his new book River Of Smoke, the art of writing a trilogy, his dramatic characters, the nuanced language they speak, and the Imperial intrigues that culminated in the Opium Wars.
Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger and Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies were among the six books shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. They will meet to decide on the winning novel on October 14, and the author will be awarded the 50,000 (about Rs 40 lakh) prize money at an awards ceremony later that evening at Guildhall, London.
After Amartya Sen, yet another noted intellectual has come out strongly against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Acclaimed author and Padma Shri awardee Amitav Ghosh has said that for him Modi remains someone culpable for the Gujarat riots of 2002 and for someone like him to become prime minister would be deeply destabilising for India. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN's Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, he also said that the politics of Hindu nationalism is destroying Hindu religion.
Down-to-earth and realistic as always, Ghosh's message to young aspiring writers was, "My advice to writers is to work hard. What you see here is not even the tip of the iceberg; barely 1/100th of what one writes that actually makes it to the pages of a book."
A host of pro-Palestine activists has urged eminent writer Amitav Ghosh not to accept the Tel Aviv-based Dan David Prize.
Unperturbed by criticisms over accepting the prestigious Dan David prize, noted Indian author Amitav Ghosh has said that he is "equally disappointed by those running this campaign of admonition".
Author Amitav Ghosh is giving a rare glimpse of what it's like inside Rashtrapati Bhavan.
'The pandemic has led to an immense disruption in the world's political, financial, military and geopolitical situation. The pandemic was a warning.'
Indian author Amitav Ghosh is among a group of award-winning writers and poets to make the longlist of Warwick Prize for Writing in London on Wednesday.
Amitav Ghosh on Tuesday emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year's Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing.
As the world grapples with extreme weather events and climate change becomes the buzzword of contemporary times, author Amitav Ghosh says the crisis has been in the making since the 17th century and it is imperative to take into account history before beginning to tackle the issue.
'We know many things are going to happen.' 'People should be preparing for sea level rise, for increased cyclonic activity, for drought.' 'One reason I wrote the book is to alert people to the dangers that they face.' 'For example, Mumbai faces enormous threat.'
'The novelist's dilemma in facing climate change is really the symptom of a wider failure.'
Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai won the prize worth worth 60,000 (Rs 59 lakh).
'A majority of filmmakers cannot truly understand the city because they don't live here,' says Anusha Rizvi, Director, The Great Shamsuddin Family.
'A very large part of this would have come from opium.'
Rajiv Gandhi, his son Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Karan Singh, Naveen Patnaik besides celebrated authors like Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth studied at The Doon School.
Set mostly aboard the Ibis, 'a vessel into which (the author) poured his ideas', the book has a vast multicultural cast of characters and speaks several tongues -- the unique patois of the lascars -- a unique breed of multiethnic seafarers -- and ancient curses straight out of Hobson-Dobson.
Mumbai is not prepared for a natural disaster, warns Amitav Ghosh.
When it comes to books, it's been a year of plenty.
Three Indian writers are in the running for the $50,000 (about Rs 27,50,000) DSC South Asian literature prize given to the best novel thematically linked to the South Asian region.
With editing by school teachers and a preface written by eminent author Amitav Ghosh, the dream of a teenager to get his poems published has come true but only few months after he died mysteriously.
From Amitav Ghosh to Jhumpa Lahiri and Nandan Nilekani, there are some interesting books on the anvil.
The longlist includes Summertime by JM Coetzee, who is one of only two novelists to have won the Booker Prize twice with Life & Times of Michael K in 1983 and Disgrace in 1999.
Former Indian ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra, noted litterateur Raja Rao (posthumous) and scientist S E Chandy George and civil servant V Krishnamurthy were also selected for Padma Vibhushan.
Author Neel Mukherjee weighs in on the landmark ruling from the Delhi High Court that limited Section 377 under the Indian Penal Code.
Author Deborah Baker on the genesis of her book on poet Allen Ginsberg.
Of the eight RBI governors who have held office since the 1991 economic liberalisation, Bimal Jalan had the longest stint and S Venkitaramanan, the shortest. Current Governor Shaktikanta Das will overtake Bimal Jalan before completing his second term in December, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
These human interventions in nature, along with climate change, are responsible for the disaster faced by the pilgrim town of Joshimath in Uttarakhand, which is sinking, he said.
India Today's annual list ranks the top 100 colleges in the country.
The country's oldest book awards saw some interesting wins.
Thousands of people from all walks of life on Friday filed past the body of Mahasweta Devi to pay their last respects.
'But one of the important things to remember is that what we are seeing today in India -- the destruction of the forests, the opening up of the forests to mining companies.' 'It's a horrifying thing that's going on.' 'Yet, if you look at who owns the mining companies, you will see that almost always they are vegetarians!' 'They are people, who in their own lives would probably not even hurt an insect, but yet have no qualms about destroying an entire ecosystem.'
By refusing to follow the pack and remain politically correct, Aamir Khan has paid a price. A fascinating excerpt from Shobhaa De's new book, Insatiable.
'We need to retell this history from many different perspectives.'
'Denying access to the country to writers of both foreign and Indian origin casts a chill on public discourse; it flies in the face of India's traditions of free and open debate and respect for a diversity of views, and weakens its credentials as a strong and thriving democracy'
'I would like to believe that out of this struggle (to effect climate change) will be born a generation that will be able to look upon the world with clearer eyes than those that preceded it; that they will be able to transcend the isolation in which humanity was entrapped in the time of its derangement; that they will rediscover their kinship with other beings, and that this vision, at once new and ancient, will find expression in a transformed and renewed art and literature.'
Sheela Jaywant invites you to explore The GoaWriters Group's interesting look at the lockdown.
The JCB Prize for Literature is worth Rs 25 lakh.
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