By Jennifer Rodrigo
‘My mother gave me a blank red notebook when I was too little to follow my brother to school and said it was mine to do with as I pleased. I filled it with stories,’ recalls Anuradha Roy, whose latest book, Sleeping on Jupiter, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015. The book, which is featured in the GLF Book of the Week segment this week, tells the story of Nomi and is set in Jarmuli - a city of temples and a centre of healing on the edge of the ocean. Anuradha won the Economist Crossword Prize for Fiction for her novel, The Folded Earth.
Her first novel, An Atlas of Impossible Longing, has been widely translated and was picked as one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post and the Seattle Times. It has been named by World Literature Today as one of the 60 most essential books on modern India and was shortlisted for the Crossword Prize. Roy won the Picador-Outlook Non-Fiction Prize in 2004 for her essay, "Cooking Women".
She lives in India.
Your fondest childhood memory?
The time when my father brought home a puppy in his pocket. I was seven.
How and when was your love for writing kindled?
My mother gave me a blank red notebook when I was too little to follow my brother to school and said it was mine to do with as I pleased. I filled it with stories.
Tell me about ‘Sleeping on Jupiter’. How did it come about?
It started from a long short story and grew as I thought about the incidental characters in it.
If you had to pick one of your books that is closest to your heart, which one would you pick and why?
An Atlas of Impossible Longing, because it was like diving into the unknown, not knowing if I’d surface alive.
If not a writer, what other profession would you have loved to pursue? Why?
I would have been a full time potter. I love working with clay.
3 things no one knows about you?
If they’re unknown, that’s how they should stay.
How has living in India moulded your voice, as an author?
I was born in India and have always lived here. Our landscape, people, literature, cinema -- all of it shapes my work. But I am also deeply influenced by the writing and culture of other places.
Your favourite way to unwind?
Going for long walks in the hills.
Expectations for GLF 2016?
At any festival, the best thing is to find new writers and meet new readers.
Expectations for Sri Lanka?
Oh, the moon and stars! I’ve wanted to go to Sri Lanka for years.
Any other books in the pipeline?
Maybe, don’t know yet.
Anuradha Roy is one of the many writers who’ll be attending the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016 in January.
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