Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author and activist. Her debut novel, The God of Small Things (1997), won the Booker Prize, making her the first Indian woman to receive it. Since then she has become one of India’s most prominent and outspoken essayists on the environment, human rights and politics. Her 2025 memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, won wide acclaim.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Suzanna Arundhati Roy |
| Born | 24 November 1961, Shillong, Meghalaya, India |
| Age | 64 |
| Profession | Novelist, essayist, activist |
| Education | School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi |
| Mother | Mary Roy (educator and activist) |
| Famous work | The God of Small Things (1997) |
| Awards | Booker Prize (1997), PEN Pinter Prize (2024) |
Early Life
Arundhati Roy was born in Shillong and grew up in Aymanam, Kerala, with her mother, Mary Roy, a pioneering educator. Mary Roy later won a landmark Supreme Court case on inheritance rights for Syrian Christian women. Arundhati left home as a teenager and studied architecture in Delhi.
Career
Roy wrote and acted in the film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989), which won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay. She also wrote Electric Moon (1992).
Her semi-autobiographical novel, set in Kerala, tells the story of twins Estha and Rahel and a forbidden love. Published in 1997, it won the Booker Prize, became an international bestseller and has been translated into dozens of languages.
After her novel, Roy turned largely to non-fiction. Her essays criticised India’s nuclear tests and large dams on the Narmada river, and they took on corporate globalisation, the conflict in Kashmir and the treatment of Adivasi communities. Collections include The Algebra of Infinite Justice, Walking with the Comrades and Capitalism: A Ghost Story. Her views have often made her a target of criticism and legal action. In 2024 Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor approved her prosecution over a 2010 speech on Kashmir.
Her second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, appeared in 2017, twenty years after her first. Her memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me (2025), about her relationship with her mother, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography and was shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.
Selected Works
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Arundhati Roy born?
Arundhati Roy was born on 24 November 1961 in Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
What honours has Arundhati Roy received?
Booker Prize (1997), PEN Pinter Prize (2024).
