The Latest Breaking News from Anita Desai

Kiran Desai’s first novel in nearly 20 years is shortlisted for the Booker. Last time, she won it

Kiran Desai’s surname was familiar to the world of literature when her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, won the Man Booker Prize in 2006. Her mother, Anita Desai, was already an accomplished novelist, who had been nominated for the Booker three times. The Inheritance of Loss was hailed as…

The Conversation · Oct 28, 2025

Kiran Desai: ‘I never thought it would happen in the US’

Since winning the Booker prize, the Indian author has spent two decades writing a follow-up. She talks about being longlisted again — and the immigration raids creating fear in her New York neighbourhood

The Guardian - UK · Sep 20, 2025

Most global Booker prize longlist in a decade features Kiran Desai and Tash Aw

Chair of judges Roddy Doyle says the 13 ‘gripping’ titles in contention for the £50,000 award all ‘examine identity, individual or national’

The Guardian - UK · Jul 29, 2025

Rosarita by Anita Desai review – a transcendent late gift

This profound and riddling novel follows a young Indian woman’s quest through Mexico to find out more about her mother

The Guardian - UK · Jul 4, 2024

Anita Desai: ‘After I left India, I had to train myself to express my opinions’

At 87, the Indian author has been shortlisted for the Booker prize three times, and has written her first novel in a decade. She talks about leaving India to teach and write around the world – and feeling like a stranger everywhere

The Guardian - UK · Jun 29, 2024

Tamil writer Ambai wins Tata Literature lifetime achievement award

Ambai selected for Tata Lit Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to writing/literature in India. Past recipients incl. Anita Desai, Mark Tully, Amitav Gosh, Ruskin Bond & Girish Karnad. Won Sahitya Akademi Award for Sivappu Kazhutthudan Oru Patchaiparavai in 2021.

The Hindu · Oct 3, 2023