Anuradha Roy
Novelist & Publisher
Acclaimed Indian author whose novels delicately weave personal stories with broader historical and political landscapes.
About
Anuradha Roy is an award-winning Indian author, editor, and publisher. Her novels are internationally acclaimed for their lyrical prose, complex characters, and exploration of sociopolitical themes. A co-founder of Permanent Black, one of India’s finest academic publishing houses, Roy brings deep literary sensibility to her fiction.
Her debut novel, An Atlas of Impossible Longing (2008), established her as a major voice in Indian English literature. With subsequent works like The Folded Earth and Sleeping on Jupiter, she gained further recognition for narratives that explore love, loss, memory, and identity. Sleeping on Jupiter won the DSC Prize and highlighted the trauma of gender violence through sensitive storytelling.
Roy’s novel All the Lives We Never Lived (2018) was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize and blends historical fiction with philosophical introspection. Her recent novel, The Earthspinner, explores the inner world of an artist struggling with faith and freedom in a conflicted society.
Her works have been translated into over fifteen languages and she continues to be a powerful voice in contemporary fiction.
Published Books
The Folded Earth
Literary Fiction
A poignant tale of grief, love, and healing set in a quiet Himalayan town. Anuradha Roy explores the terrain of human loss and renewal with elegant prose.
An Atlas of Impossible Longing
Historical Fiction
A sweeping generational saga set in 20th-century India, exploring forbidden love, societal constraints, and personal longing.
Sleeping on Jupiter
Contemporary Fiction
A powerful and unsettling novel that exposes violence, memory, and the complexity of women's lives in modern India.
All the Lives We Never Lived
Historical Fiction
A lyrical novel of art, freedom, and the weight of familial history set during India's struggle for independence.
The Earthspinner
Literary Fiction
A tender, philosophical novel about creativity, tradition, and the quiet revolutions of the heart.
Recommended Reading
The Lowland
Jhumpa Lahiri
A deeply emotional novel of two brothers in Calcutta—politics, love, sacrifice—and the ripples that echo across continents.
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
Winner of the Man Booker Prize, this semi-autobiographical novel explores love, loss, and the societal boundaries in India. Set in Kerala, it interweaves personal and political tragedies with poetic prose.
Awards & Recognition
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
2015Awarded for Sleeping on Jupiter, recognizing excellence in South Asian fiction writing.
Walter Scott Prize Shortlist
2018All the Lives We Never Lived was shortlisted for this prestigious award for historical fiction.
Sahitya Akademi Award
2022Recognized for her contribution to Indian literature in English.
Famous Quotes
"The world often demands silence from women, but literature demands their voices."
"Some places don’t let go of you even when you leave them."
"In the details of daily life, the greatest stories are often hidden."
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