Rohinton Mistry

Last updated

Rohinton Mistry

CM
BornRohinton Mistry
Bombay, India
OccupationNovelist
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater University of Bombay
University of Toronto
GenreHistorical fiction, Postcolonial Literature, Realism, Parsi Literature Minor Literature Indian literature
Notable works Such a Long Journey ; Family Matters ; A Fine Balance
SpouseFreny Elavia

Rohinton Mistry CM (born 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian writer. He has been the recipient of many awards including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2012. Each of his first three novels was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His novels to date have been set in India, told from the perspective of Parsis, and explore themes of family life, poverty, discrimination, and the corrupting influence of society. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Rohinton Mistry was born in Bombay, India, to a Parsi family. [2] His brother is the playwright and author Cyrus Mistry. He earned a BA in Mathematics and Economics from St. Xavier's College, Bombay. [3]

He emigrated to Canada with his wife-to-be Freny Elavia in 1975 and they married shortly afterwards. [4] He worked in a bank for a while, before returning to academia at the University of Toronto where he obtained a BA in English and Philosophy. [5] [6]

Career

While attending the University of Toronto (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. [7]

Three years later, Penguin Books Canada published his collection of 11 short stories, 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". [8]

His second book, the novel Such a Long Journey , was published in 1991. It won the Governor General's Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, and the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award. [8] It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and for the Trillium Award. It has been translated into German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Japanese. It was adapted for the 1998 film Such a Long Journey . The content of the book caused controversy at Mumbai University in 2010 due to language used against Bal Thackeray, leader of Shiv Sena, a political party from Maharashtra, as well as some remarks about Maharashtrians. [9] 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's Vice-Chancellor (V-C) used emergency powers in the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, to withdraw the book from the syllabus. [10]

His third book, and second novel, A Fine Balance (1995), won the second annual Giller Prize in 1995, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction in 1996. It was selected for Oprah's Book Club [11] in November 2001. It won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize. [12]

Family Matters (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). Mistry's literary papers are housed at the Clara Thomas Archives at York University. [13]

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. [14] [15]

Awards and recognition

Selected works

Novels

Short stories and chapbooks

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Shields</span> Canadian writer

Carol Ann Shields was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award in Canada.

Canadian literature is written in several languages including English, French, and to some degree various Indigenous languages. It is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in the literary traditions of France and Britain, respectively. The earliest Canadian narratives were of travel and exploration.

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1992.

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Heighton</span> Canadian writer (1961–2022)

Steven Heighton was a Canadian fiction writer, poet, and singer-songwriter. He is the author of eighteen books, including three short story collections, four novels, and seven poetry collections. His last work was Selected Poems 1983-2020 and an album, The Devil's Share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bapsi Sidhwa</span> Pakistani writer

Bapsi Sidhwa is a Pakistani novelist of Gujarati Parsi Zoroastrian descent who writes in English and is a resident in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neustadt International Prize for Literature</span> American literary award

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Malouf</span> Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist

David George Joseph Malouf is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney. He also delivered the 1998 Boyer Lectures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooni Taraporevala</span> Indian film director

Sooni Taraporevala is an Indian screenwriter, photographer, and filmmaker who is the screenwriter of Mississippi Masala, The Namesake and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay!, all directed by Mira Nair. She also adapted Rohinton Mistry's novel Such A Long Journey and wrote the films Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, her directorial debut Little Zizou, and Yeh Ballet, a Netflix original film that she wrote and directed.

The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region. Established in 1996, the prize was last awarded in 2008.

<i>Such a Long Journey</i> (novel) 1991 novel by Rohinton Mistry

Such a Long Journey is a 1991 novel by Rohinton Mistry. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won several other awards. In 2010 the book made headlines when it was withdrawn from the University of Mumbai's English syllabus after complaints from the Maharashtrian politician Aditya Thackeray.

Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. Its early history began with the works of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and Michael Madhusudan Dutt followed by Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo. R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao contributed to the growth and popularity of Indian English fiction in the 1930s. It is also associated, in some cases, with the works of members of the Indian diaspora who subsequently compose works in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rilla Askew</span> American novelist and short story writer

Rilla Askew is an American novelist and short story writer who was born in Poteau, in the Sans Bois Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma, and grew up in the town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Cyril Dabydeen is a Guyana-born Canadian writer of Indian descent. He grew up in Rose Hall sugar plantation with the sense of Indian indenture rooted in his family background. He is a cousin of the UK writer David Dabydeen.

<i>Tales from Firozsha Baag</i> Collection of short stories by Rohinton Mistry

Tales From Firozsha Baag is a collection of 11 short stories by Rohinton Mistry about the residents of Firozsha Baag, a Parsi-dominated apartment complex in Mumbai. Mistry's first book, it was published by Penguin Canada in 1987.

The Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an established Canadian author to honour their body of work.

Cyrus Mistry is an Indian author and playwright. He won the 2014 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer. He is the brother of author Rohinton Mistry.

The Hart House Review is an annual Canadian literary magazine published by Hart House, a student life centre at the University of Toronto, and printed at Coach House Press.

<i>The Age of Longing</i> 1995 novel by Richard B. Wright

The Age of Longing is a 1995 novel by Canadian author Richard B. Wright and published by HarperCollins. The novel was nominated for the 1995 Scotiabank Giller Prize and Governor General's Award in the English-language fiction category.

<i>Family Matters</i> (novel) Novel by Rohinton Mistry

Family Matters is the third novel published by Indian-born author Rohinton Mistry. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 2002. Subsequent editions were published by Faber in UK, Knopf in US and Vintage Books in India. The book is set in Shiv Sena-ruled Bombay.

References

  1. ↑ Mitchell, Tom (2000). "Mistry, Rohinton". Postcolonial Studies @ Emory. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Gupta, Nidhi (January 2014). "The Making of the Novelist: Rohinton Mistry" (PDF). MIT International Journal of English Language & Literature. 1 (1): 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "St. Xavier's College alumni write open letter opposing invitation to Aditya Thackeray to attend college event". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Lambert, Angela (27 April 2002). "The Guardian Profile: Rohinton Mistry". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  5. ↑ "The Man Booker Prize". The Man Booker Prize. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Rohinton Mistry - Literature". literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Grandy, Karen (7 July 2015). "Rohinton Mistry | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  8. 1 2 Malieckal, Bindu (2000). "Rohinton Mistry". In Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath (Ed.), Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, pp. 219–28. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   0-313-30911-6.
  9. ↑ "The Relevant Passages". Outlook India. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  10. ↑ Burke, Jason (19 October 2010). "Mumbai University drops Rohinton Mistry novel after extremists complain". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  11. ↑ New, William H. (2003). A History of Canadian Literature, (3d ed.), p. 326. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN   0-7735-2597-1.
  12. ↑ Faber and Faber paperback edition 1997
  13. ↑ "Canadian literary papers | Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections" . Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Author is singled out, but not in a good way". SFGate. 19 December 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Author cancels US tour over 'profiling'". BBC. 3 November 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Rohinton Mistry wins Neustadt Prize 2012 – "Parsi Khabar"
  17. ↑ Critically acclaimed Indian-Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry wins 2012 Neustadt International Prize for Literature – World Literature Today
  18. ↑ "Order of Canada Appointments". The Governor General of Canada His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston. Governor General of Canada . Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Mr. Rohinton Mistry". Governor-General of Canada . Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "Lessons to learn from the book Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry| Kaitholil.com". kaitholil.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.