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Nilanjana S. Roy (born c. 1971) is an Indian journalist, literary critic, editor, and author. She has written the fiction books ''The Wildings'' and ''The Hundred Names of Darkness'', and the essay collection ''The Girl Who Ate Books''. She is the editor of the anthologies ''A Matter of Taste: The Penguin Book of Indian Writing on Food'' and ''Our Freedoms''.
Early life and education
Roy was born in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. She was educated at
La Martiniere, Kolkata, attended
St. Stephen's College,
University of Delhi
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
, and graduated with a degree in literature in the 1990s.
Career
Over a more than twenty-year career as a columnist and literary critic, Roy has written for the ''
Business Standard
''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busin ...
''
and ''Biblio''.
She has also written for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, ''
Outlook
Outlook or The Outlook may refer to:
Computing
* Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft
* Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft
* Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...
'', ''
The New York Review'', ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', ''
Huffington Post'' and other publications.
She has also worked as the chief editor at Westland (Limited) and Tranquebar Press.
Roy is represented by the renowned literary agent David Godwin.
Roy is the author of ''The Wildings'', which won the
Shakti Bhatt First Book Award in 2013. It was also shortlisted for the Tata Literature First Book Award (2012) and Commonwealth First Book Award, and longlisted for the DSC Prize (2013). In a review for ''
DNA'', Deepanjana Pal writes, "The world as imagined by Roy in this remarkable debut is filled with marvels, not the least of which is the feline social media network which makes Twitter look witheringly banal."
''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' wrote, "Roy's imaginative tale makes an evocative comment on life and survival."
''The Hundred Names of Darkness'', the sequel of ''The Wildings'', was published in 2013.
In a review for ''
DNA'', Rachel Pilaka writes, "Roy’s animal kingdom certainly begs for a movie series."
Roy is also the editor of ''A Matter of Taste: The Penguin Book Of Indian Writing On Food'', an anthology of food writing.
In 2016, she released an essay collection titled ''The Girl Who Ate Books'', that she wrote over twenty years.
In a review for ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...
'', Abhijit Gupta writes that it is a "book about books," and "Culled from Roy’s columns for over two decades, the essays constitute a virtual Who’s Who of the world of Indian English letters."
In a review for ''
Scroll.in
''Scroll.in'', simply referred to as ''Scroll'', is an Indian digital news publication owned by the Scroll Media Incorporation. It publishes content in both Hindi and English languages. Founded in 2014, the website and its journalists have won ...
'', Devapriya Roy writes the book "is also about the literary lives and reading cultures in and of two cities, Delhi and Kolkata" and "contains Roy’s insightful – often insider – observations on that highly diffuse yet vibrant category, Indian Writing in English."
In a review for ''
Mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
'', Sumana Roy writes the collection "documents the birth of a habit, of how the thing we casually call Indian English literature turned from curiosity to comfort—this is literary history told as observer and participant, and it is the latter that will make this book stand out among the many that I imagine being written many years later".
With Anikendra Nath Sen and Devangshu Datta, she edited ''Patriots, Poets and Prisoners: Selections from Ramananda Chatterjee's the Modern Review, 1907-1947'', which was released in 2016.
Salil Tripathi
Salil Tripathi is an American author and editor. He is Chair of PEN International's Writers in Prison Committee. He is a contributing editor to ''The Caravan''. and Mint.
Biography
Tripathi was born in Mumbai. He was educated at the New Era Sch ...
writes in ''
Mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
'' that the editors "have reminded India of how opinions were expressed once, and how that was possible even at a time when a colonial power ruled India." Roy also edited the 2021 anthology ''Our Freedoms'', described in a review by Kalrav Joshi for ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'' as a book "about the politics of religion, caste and gender; the language of dissent; the limits of free expression; and challenges to constitutional democracy and secularism."
Bibliography
*''A Matter of Taste: The Penguin Book of Indian Writing on Food'', Edited by Nilanjana Roy, Penguin Books, 2005.
*''The Wildings'', Aleph Book Company, 2012, Random House, 2016.
*''The Hundred Names of Darkness'', Aleph Book Company, 2013.
*''The Girl Who Ate Books'', Harper Collins, 2016.
*''Patriots, Poets and Prisoners: Selections from Ramananda Chatterjee’s the Modern Review, 1907-1947'', Edited by Anikendra Nath Sen, Devangshu Datta and Nilanjana S Roy, Harpers Collins, 2016.
*''Our Freedoms'', Edited by Nilanjana Roy, Juggernaut Books, 2021.
Personal life
She is married to Devangshu Datta,
who is a columnist at the ''
Business Standard
''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busin ...
''. Her cats include Mara, Tiglath, Bathsheba, and Lola.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
"ReadingWritingFoodingLodging"Nilanjana Roy's website
''Akhond of Swat''Nilanjana Roy's archive of book reviews and journalism.
Nilanjana Roy in conversation with Anita Roy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Nilanjana S.
Women writers from West Bengal
1970s births
Living people
Indian literary critics
Writers from Kolkata
Indian women critics
Indian food writers
20th-century Indian essayists
21st-century Indian essayists
Indian women essayists
20th-century Indian women writers
21st-century Indian women writers
20th-century Indian people