Rohinton Mistry (born 1952) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer. He has been the recipient of many awards including the

Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious int ...

in 2012. Each of his first three novels were

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

. His novels to date have been set in India, told from the perspective of

Parsis Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

, and explore themes of family life, poverty, discrimination, and the corrupting influence of society.

Early life and education

Rohinton Mistry was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, India, to a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family. His brother is the playwright and author

Cyrus Mistry Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (4 July 1968 – 4 September 2022) was an Indian businessman. He was the chairman of the Tata Group, an Indian business conglomerate, from 2012 to 2016. He was the sixth chairman of the group, and only the second (af ...

. He earned a BA in Mathematics and Economics from

St. Xavier's College, Bombay St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous higher education institution run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on January 2, 1869. The college is affili ...

. He emigrated to Canada with his wife-to-be Freny Elavia in 1975 and they married shortly afterwards. He worked in a bank for a while, before returning to academia at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

where he obtained a BA in English and Philosophy.

Career

While attending the

(Woodsworth College) he became the first to win two Hart House literary prizes for stories published in the '' Hart House Review'', and ''Canadian Fiction Magazine''s annual Contributor's Prize for 1985. Three years later,

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, '' Tales from Firozsha Baag''. It was later published in the United States as ''Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag''. The book consists of 11 stories set within an apartment complex in modern-day Bombay. This volume contains the oft-anthologized story, "Swimming Lessons".Malieckal, Bindu (2000). "Rohinton Mistry". In Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath (Ed.), ''Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook'', pp. 219–28. Greenwood Publishing Group. . His second book, the novel '' Such a Long Journey'', was published in 1991. It won the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by th ...

, the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

for Best Book, and the W.H. Smith/

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...

. It was

shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

ed for the

and for the

Trillium Award The Trillium Book Award (french: Prix littéraire Trillium or ''Prix Trillium'') is an annual literary award presented to writers in Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Creates, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, which i ...

. It has been translated into German,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, Danish and Japanese. It was adapted for the 1998 film '' Such a Long Journey''. The content of the book caused a controversy at

Mumbai University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

in 2010 due to language used against

Bal Thackeray Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro- Marathi and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra ...

, leader of

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

, a political party from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

, as well as some remarks about

Maharashtrians The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

. The book was prescribed for the second year Bachelor of Arts (English) in 2007–08 as an optional text, according to University sources. Later, Dr. Rajan Welukar,

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

's Vice-Chancellor (V-C) used emergency powers in the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, to withdraw the book from the syllabus. His third book, and second novel, ''

A Fine Balance ''A Fine Balance'' is the second novel by Rohinton Mistry, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1995. Set in "an unidentified city" in India, initially in 1975 and later in 1984 during the turmoil of The Emergency, the book focuses on four ...

'' (1995), won the second annual

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition b ...

in 1995, and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' Book Prize for Fiction in 1996. It was selected for

Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for viewers ...

in November 2001. It won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker prize. ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers, ...

'' (2002) is a consideration of the difficulties that come with ageing, to which topic Mistry returned in 2008 with the short fiction ''The Scream'' (published as a separate volume, in support of World Literacy of Canada, with illustrations by

Tony Urquhart Anthony Morse Urquhart, LL.D. (April 9, 1934 – January 26, 2022) was a Canadian painter. He was recognized in the late 1950s and early 1960s as one of Canada's pioneering abstractionists, having been variously linked with the Toronto painters ...

). Mistry's literary papers are housed at the Clara Thomas Archives at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

. In 2002, Mistry cancelled his United States book tour for his novel ''Family Matters'' after he and his wife were targeted by security agents at every airport.

Awards and recognition

*1983 – Hart House Literary Contest, "One Sunday" *1984 – Hart House Literary Contest, "Auspicious Occasion" *1985 – Annual Contributors' Prize, ''Canadian Fiction Magazine'' *1991 –

, shortlist, ''Such a Long Journey'' *1991 –

, ''Such a Long Journey'' *1991 –

, ''Such a Long Journey'' *1991 – W.H. Smith/

, ''Such a Long Journey'' *1991 –

, ''Such a Long Journey'' *1995 –

, ''A Fine Balance'' *1995 –

Book Prize for Fiction, ''A Fine Balance'' *1996 –

, ''A Fine Balance'' *1996 –

, shortlist, ''A Fine Balance'' *2002 –

, shortlist, ''Family Matters'' *2002 –

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

, shortlist ''Family Matters'' *2004 –

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

, shortlist, ''Family Matters'' *2012 –

Rohinton Mistry wins Neustadt Prize 2012
– "Parsi Khabar"Critically acclaimed Indian-Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry wins 2012 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
– ''World Literature Today'' *2015- Appointed as a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Brampton Arts Walk of Fame The Brampton Arts Walk of Fame is an honours system located at the Rose Theatre Brampton, in Ontario, Canada. It previously was known as the Brampton Walk of Fame, or Art Walk of Fame. The first currently recognized inductions took place in 2014 ...

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it t ...

, Ontario

Selected works

Novels

*'' Such a Long Journey'' (1991) *''

'' (1995) *''

'' (2002)

Short stories and chapbooks

*'' Tales from Firozsha Baag'' (1987), also published as ''Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag'' (1989) *''Searching for Stevenson'' (1994) *''The Scream'' (2006)

References

External links

Rohinton Mistry archives
held at the

Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections Clara Thomas (née McCandless; May 22, 1919 – September 26, 2013) was a Canadian academic. A longtime professor of English at York University, she was one of the first academics to devote her work specifically to the study of Canadian literatur ...

York University Libraries York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of York University in Toronto, Ontario. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes. History The first York library opened in 1961 at Glendon College and ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Rohinton Mistry
biographical and critical information by James Proctor {{DEFAULTSORT:Mistry, Rohinton 1952 births Canadian writers of Asian descent Canadian male novelists Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Indian emigrants to Canada English-language writers from India Living people Members of the Order of Canada Parsi people from Mumbai People from Brampton University of Toronto alumni Indian male novelists Parsi writers 20th-century Indian novelists Writers from Mumbai Novelists from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Parsi people Gujarati people Writers from Gujarat Canadian people of Parsi descent Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners