Top 10 Indian English writers

 Top 10 Indian English writers

Hi there! Here are my top 10 picks for Indian English writers:

1. Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie is a celebrated British-Indian author and essayist whose works blend magical realism with historical fiction. Born in Bombay in 1947, Rushdie completed his education in England before writing his first novel, Grimus, in 1975. His masterpiece, however, is the award-winning novel, Midnight's Children (1981). This book, which tells the story of the Indian subcontinent's partition in 1947, won the Booker Prize and is considered one of the best works of postcolonial literature. Since then, Rushdie has written several other acclaimed works, including The Satanic Verses (1988), The Moor's Last Sigh (1995), and The Enchantress of Florence (2008). He has also written a number of non-fiction works, including The Jaguar Smile (1987) and Imaginary Homelands (1991). Rushdie's works have been translated into more than 40 languages, and he has been honored with numerous awards, including the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award in 2012.

2.Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy is a world-renowned Indian author and activist. She was born in Shillong, India in 1961 and completed her Bachelor of Architecture in 1984. Roy's first novel, The God of Small Things, was published in 1997 and won the Man Booker Prize that same year. The novel has since been translated into more than 40 languages.

In addition to her writing, Roy is also an outspoken political activist. She has campaigned for a variety of causes, including environmentalism, secularism, and human rights. Her work has been widely praised for its powerful critiques of the Indian government and its policies. Roy has also written several non-fiction books, including The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and Capitalism: A Ghost Story.

Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004 for her commitment to non-violence and human rights. She continues to be a passionate advocate for social justice and has been described as one of the most influential authors of our time.

3.Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, and biographer. He was born in Calcutta, India in 1952. He studied at The Doon School in Dehradun, India and then went to Stanford University, where he earned a Master's degree in economics. After university, he worked as a financial journalist in London and Tokyo. His first book, The Golden Gate, was published in 1986 and was an international bestseller. He is best known for his 1993 novel, A Suitable Boy, which was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest single-volume English-language novel published. His other works include poetry collections such as Beastly Tales, collections of short stories such as All You Who Sleep Tonight, travel writing books such as From Heaven Lake, and a libretto for an opera, Arion and the Dolphin. He has also written biographies of Indian poets, including The Frog and the Nightingale, and has edited collections of poetry. In 2001, he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.

4. Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is an Indian novelist, essayist, and historian. He was born in Calcutta, India in 1956. He studied in Delhi and Oxford, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology. He is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, Sea of Poppies, and River of Smoke. He has also written several non-fiction books, including In an Antique Land and Dancing in Cambodia. His work often focuses on the history and culture of India, particularly the former British colony of India. He is also known for his environmental writing and advocacy. He has received numerous awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Padma Shri, and the Jnanpith Award. Ghosh is an important voice in Indian literature and is a prominent figure in the literary scene of South Asia.

5. Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri is an acclaimed Indian-American author and Pulitzer Prize winner. Born in 1967 in London, Lahiri was raised in Rhode Island and earned a BA in English literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University.

Lahiri's first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, was published in 1999 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000. Her debut novel, The Namesake, was published in 2003 and was adapted into a feature film in 2006. In 2008, Lahiri published Unaccustomed Earth, another collection of short stories. Her second novel, The Lowland, was published in 2013, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Lahiri has also written a book of non-fiction, In Other Words, which was published in 2016. This book, which was originally written in Italian, explores Lahiri's experience learning a new language. Lahiri also wrote a book of poetry, Loose Strife, which was published in 2015.

Lahiri is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton University and lives in New York City.

6. Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat is an Indian author, speaker, and columnist whose work focuses on the struggles of young people in India. He has written nine novels, including best-sellers such as Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), Revolution 2020 (2011), Half Girlfriend (2014) and One Indian Girl (2016). He has also written non-fiction such as What Young India Wants (2012). He has also written columns for popular publications such as The Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar.

Bhagat was born in New Delhi and brought up in Dehradun. He completed his schooling from the Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. He graduated from IIT Delhi and pursued an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Bhagat was employed as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs prior to becoming an author.

Chetan Bhagat has been awarded numerous awards including the Society Young Achievers Award (2003), CNBC-TV18's Indian of the Year award (2010), and the British Asian Writer of the Year Award (2011). He has been included in the Time Magazine's list of "World's 100 Most Influential People". Bhagat was also awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2015.

Bhagat's books have been adapted into the Bollywood movies including 3 Idiots (2009), Kai Po Che! (2013), 2 States (2014), and Half Girlfriend (2017). He has also been involved in the production of television series such as Love Life & Screw Ups.

7. Kiran Desai

Kiran Desai is an Indian-American author and the daughter of celebrated Indian novelist Anita Desai. She was born in 1971 in India, and moved to the United States with her mother in 1976. She attended St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and graduated in 1992 with a degree in English Literature. After college, she moved to the United States and attended Hollins University where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing in 1996.

Desai’s first novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, was published in 1998 and won the Betty Trask Award, given to writers under 35 from the Commonwealth countries. Her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, was published in 2006 and won the Man Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction.

In addition to her novels, Desai has written several short stories, some of which have been published in The New Yorker, Granta, and The Atlantic. She has also edited an anthology of short stories titled Best of Indian Short Stories, and is currently working on a new novel. Desai currently lives in New York City and teaches creative writing at Columbia University.

8. Rohinton Mistry

Rohinton Mistry is a celebrated Indian-born Canadian writer who is renowned for his short stories and novels. He was born in 1952 in Mumbai, India, and moved to Canada with his parents in 1975. Mistry attended the University of Toronto, where he earned a degree in Mathematics and Economics. Following his studies, he began writing fiction, and published his first novel, Such a Long Journey, in 1991. The book was highly acclaimed and won several awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book.

Mistry has since written several other acclaimed works, including A Fine Balance (1995), Family Matters (2002), and Tales from Firozsha Baag (1987). His stories often explore themes of love, suffering, and identity, and his works are known for their vivid descriptions of life in India. He has been awarded several prestigious awards, such as the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, and his works have been adapted into plays, films, and television series. Mistry currently lives in Brampton, Ontario and continues to write and travel.

9. Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and writer. He was born in London in 1956 to a family of Indian civil servants and was raised in India. He attended universities in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and holds degrees in history and international relations. He began his career in the Indian Foreign Service in the late 1970s, becoming one of the youngest Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations in 2001. He served in various UN positions until 2007 and returned to India to pursue a career in politics in 2009.

Tharoor is also a widely-acclaimed writer, having authored numerous books, articles, and opinion pieces. He is best known for his novel, The Great Indian Novel (1989), which is a satirical retelling of the Indian epic Mahabharata from a modern, post-independence perspective. He has also written several acclaimed non-fiction books such as India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997) and The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone (2007). His writing often focuses on Indian politics, society, and culture, and he is an outspoken advocate for India's secular traditions. He is also a prolific social media user, and his tweets often receive widespread attention.

Tharoor has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Crossword Prize, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and the Sahitya Akademi Award. He continues to serve as a member of India's Parliament and is a vocal presence in India's political discourse.

10. Anita Desai

Anita Desai is an Indian novelist and short story writer. She is a three-time finalist for the Booker Prize, and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, the India's National Academy of Letters. Born in 1937 in Mussoorie, India, Desai's first novel, Cry, the Peacock, was published in 1963. Her other books include Clear Light of Day, In Custody, Fasting, Feasting, The Zigzag Way, and The Artist of Disappearance. Desai also writes for children, with titles such as The Village by the Sea and The Peacock Garden. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the 1978 Sahitya Akademi Award, the 1993 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book, and a finalist nod for the Booker Prize in 1980, 1983, and 1999. Desai has served as a professor of English at Mount Holyoke College in the United States since 1985.