FAMOUS WRITERS OF INDIA BY ADITYA AMBUJ CLASS

FAMOUS WRITERS OF INDIA BY ADITYA AMBUJ, CLASS VIII D

India has always been a chest of treasures. Her assets have made her renowned in all ages. One such field where she is in all her glory is literature. Many Indians have been acknowledged for their enthralling works in literature at international level.

The highest recognition that any writer can dream of, the ‘Man Booker Prize’, has been gained by quite a number of Indians, five persons to be exact. Ø V S Naipaul (In A Free State) Ø Salman Rushdie (Midnight’s Children) Ø Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things) Ø Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Loss) Ø Aravind Adiga (The White Tiger)

V S NAIPAUL

In 1971, V S Naipaul’s novel ’In a Free State’ was the first book by an Indian novelist to win the Booker. The book is constructed of three interrelated stories. Each of the stories considers the impact of British imperialism, in different parts of the world and at different times, on the characters. What is Naipaul’s connection to India? While he was born in Trinidad, his grandparents previously emigrated from India to the Caribbean, where they found jobs as farm workers. While many of his works have clear ties to Trinidad and Tobago, his characters also deal with questions of imperialism, colonization, and the relationship among the Caribbean, Britain, and the Indian subcontinent. His novel ’A Bend in the River’ (1979) was shortlisted for the Booker.

SALMAN RUSHDIE

Salman Rushdie, in full Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie, (born June 19, 1947, Bombay [now Mumbai], India), Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humour, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style. His treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects made him a controversial figure. The novel Shame (1983), based on contemporary politics in Pakistan, was also popular, but Rushdie’s fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, encountered a different reception. Some of the adventures in this book depict a character modeled on the Prophet Muhammad and portray both him and his transcription of the Quran in a manner that, after the novel’s publication in the summer of 1988, drew criticism from Muslim community leaders in Britain. Rushdie received the Booker Prize in 1981 for Midnight’s Children. The novel subsequently won the Booker of Bookers (1993) and the Best of the Booker (2008). These special prizes were voted on by the public in honour of the prize’s 25 th and 40 th anniversaries, respectively. Rushdie was knighted in 2007, an honour criticized by the Iranian government and Pakistan’s parliament.

ARUNDHATI ROY

Arundhati Roy, full name Suzanna Arundhati Roy, (born November 24, 1961, Shillong, Meghalaya, India), Indian author, actress, and political activist who was best known for the award-winning novel ‘The God of Small Things’ (1997) and for her involvement in environmental and human rights causes. Roy’s father was a Bengali tea planter, and her mother was a Christian of Syrian descent who challenged India’s inheritance laws by successfully suing for the right of Christian women to receive an equal share of their fathers’ estates. Though trained as an architect, Roy had little interest in design; she dreamed instead of a writing career. After a series of odd jobs, including artist and aerobics instructor, she wrote and costarred in the film In Which Annie Gives It to Those Ones (1989) and later penned scripts for the film Electric Moon (1992) and several television dramas. In 1997 Roy published her debut novel, The God of Small Things to wide acclaim and won the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In recognition of her outspoken advocacy of human rights, Roy was awarded the Lannan Cultural Freedom Award in 2002, the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004, and the Sahitya Akademi Award from the Indian Academy of Letters in 2006.

KIRAN DESAI

Kiran Desai, (born Sept. 3, 1971, New Delhi, India), Indian-born American author whose second novel, ’The Inheritance of Loss’ (2006), became an international best seller and won the 2006 Booker Prize. Kiran Desai, daughter of the novelist Anita Desai, lived in India until age 15, after which her family moved to England then to the United States. She graduated from Bennington (Vt. ) College in 1993 and later received two M. F. A. ’s—one from Hollins University, in Roanoke, Va. , and the other from Columbia University, in New York City. Desai left Columbia for several years to write her first novel, ’Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard’ (1998). It drew wide critical praise and received a 1998 Betty Trask Prize from the British Society of Authors. While working on what would become her second novel, Desai lived a peripatetic life that took her from New York to Mexico and India. After more than seven years of work, she published ’The Inheritance of Loss’ (2006). ’The Inheritance of Loss’ was hailed by critics as a keen, richly descriptive analysis of globalisation, terrorism, and immigration. When she received the Booker Prize for the novel in 2007, Desai became the youngest female writer to win the award.

ARAVIND ADIGA

Aravind Adiga was born in 1974 in Madras (now called Chennai), and grew up in Mangalore in the south of India. He was educated at Columbia University in New York and Magdalen College, Oxford. His articles have appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, the Sunday Times, the Financial Times, and the Times of India. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the Man Booker Prize for fiction in 2008. Its release was followed by a collection of short stories in the book titled Between the Assassinations. His second novel, Last Man in the Tower, was published in 2011. His newest novel, Selection Day, was published in 2016.

Njanpith award is bestowed to the writers of India as a token of appreciation of their "outstanding contribution towards literature". The first person to embrace this endowment was a Malayalam poet. Five personages from Kerala have won this award to date. • G. Sankara kurup (Odakkuzhal) • S. K. Pottekad (Oru Deshathinte Katha) • Thakazhi Shivasankara Pillai (Kayar) • M. T. Vasudevan Nair (Randamoozham) • O. N. V. Kurup (for his overall contribution to Malayalam poetry)

G SANKARA KURUP

The Njanapeeda Puraskar was started in the year 1965 and the first recipient was none other than G. Sankara kurup (1901 – 1978), one of the great poets of Malayalam language. It was a collection of poems, Odakkuzhal, by him which won the award. G. Sankarakurup was a college teacher and was selected to Rajyasabha once. He worked as the President of Kerala Sahitya Academy. Nation honoured him with 'Padma bhooshan' based on his achievements in literature.

S K POTTEKAD

Njanapeedam Puraskar came to Kerala again in the year 1980. S. K. Pottekad (1913 – 1982) got the award for his novel Oru Deshathinte Katha. It was written almost as his biography. Pottekad contributed to Malayalam literature immensely. His short stories, novels, travelogues, dramas and poems have enriched the literature. He had received Sahitya Academy (both Kendra and Kerala) awards. He was elected to Loksabha from Thalassey Parliamentary constituency. He also served as the President of the Cooperative Society of Literary Workers.

THAKAZHI SHIVASANKARA PILLAI

It was Thakazhi Shivasankara Pillai's Novel Kayar (Coir) which again brought Njanapeeda Puraskar to Kerala, in the year 1984. Thakazhi's stories are well known in the literature. His creations are mainly based on the life of people in and around his native place, Kuttanad in Alappuzha district. One of his famous work 'Chemmeen' (shrimp) has been translated to 19 languages. Some of his works, including 'Chemmeen' (which won President's Gold Medal) have been made films. He took twenty years to finish his award winning novel Kayar. By size, with more than thousand pages, it is the second largest novel in Malayalam. Thakazhi received in addition to Njanapeedam, Kendra sahitya Academy award, Vayalar award, Vallathol Purskaram, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, etc. President honoured him with Pdmabhooshan also. Thakazhi was born in 1912 and died in 1999.

M T VASUDEVAN NAIR

Fourth time, in 1995, the Njanapeedam award was won by Malayalam literature through M. T. Vasudevan Nair. Though the award was for the over all contributions of the author, his novel Randamoozham was mentioned. Malayalam language is highly obliged to MT (Vasudevan Nair is generally referred as MT) for his wide contributions to the language. His novels, short stories, film scripts, travelogues, and above all the films directed by him are all well recognized and have enriched the literature and film world. He served Sahitya academy as its President. He received several awards including Padma Bhooshan. Films directed scripted by him also got awards including President's gold medal. MT is still active in literature and films.

O N V KURUP

On the basis of the overall contributions made to Malayalam poetry, O. N. V. Kurup received Njanapeedam puraskaram in the year 2008. he was recipient of Sahitya Academy Award, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram and several other awards. He was honoured with Padmasree also. ONV has written songs to several films and dramas. Several times he got the State's awards for his film songs. ONV served as the Chairman of Kerala Kala Mandalam. By profession he worked as a Malayalam Professor in Government colleges. ONV continues to serve the Malayalam literature.

THANK YOU