6 incredible milestones of Arundhati Roy

Having written two riveting novels and numerous lacerating political texts alongside spearheading several social movements, Arundhati Roy's grit and creativity are unmatched in literary circles. On the multi-hyphenate's 60th birthday, we take you through some of the significant milestones she has achieved over the course of her momentous life and career.--Vogue 

National Award for Best Screenplay

Before she burst onto the Indian literary scene in 1997, Roy had already made her mark in the cinematic world with the movie, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, which won her the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1988.

1st Indian to win the Booker Prize for Fiction

Roys’s magnum opus, The God of Small Things, was a smashing debut that earned her global fame, including being nominated for—and winning—the Booker Prize for Fiction, making her the first Indian to accomplish the outstanding literary feat.

Sydney Peace Prize

Even in liberal societies and democratic institutions, asking seditious questions requires massive courage and resilience of will. Roy, who has been extremely vocal about casteist and religious violence and has been at the forefront of various movements for justice, won the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004 for her ‘commitment to the global cause of peace with justice’.

TV serial and documentary

Having proved her mettle as a screenwriter prior to her skyrocketing literary career, Roy once again reverted to writing screenplays with the television serial, The Banyan Tree, and the documentary, DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy.

Booker Prize longlist

Roy’s long-awaited second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, once again made it to the Booker Prize 2017’s longlist, reaffirming the faith of bibliophiles in her consummate skill. The novel was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for 2017.

St. Louis Literary Award

Next year, Roy will be honoured with the St. Louis Literary Award, one of the highest literary prizes in the United States, which is conferred annually on a writer who routinely nudges readers out of their comfort to introspect on the human condition, the lack of empathy that plagues it and the trauma that the systemic violence unleashes on individuals, families and generations across decades.