An Evening with Arundhati Roy at RNCM
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
It’s been 20 years since Arundhati Roy’s debut novel, The God of Small Things, took the literary world by storm and clinched the Booker Prize, and now her long-awaited second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, is hitting bookshelves near you.
Described by The Independent as “an ancient drama played out against an unmistakably modern backdrop”, The God of Small Things tells the story of twins Rahel and Estha growing up in the politically turbulent state of Kerala in the 1960s. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness tells a story spanning many years and an entire subcontinent through a rich cast of characters.
And although two decades have passed between the two novels, the acclaimed author has been busy: she has published five books of non-fiction, including The End of Imagination, Broken Republic and Capitalism: A Ghost Story. A recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize, she has covered the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the armed Maoist insurrection in central India and the struggle for self-determination in Kashmir. She has been jailed for her views and is even now facing a trial for criminal contempt of court for an essay she wrote about an incarcerated college lecturer.
In this event, part of Manchester Literature Festival’s year-round programme, Arundhati Roy will discuss her career, and read from and sign copies of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
