Roy, Arundhati (1961– )

Indian writer. Her first novel, The God of Small Things, won the Booker Prize in 1997.

Roy was born in Bengal, the child of a Christian mother from Kerala and a Hindu father from Bengal, and grew up in Kerala. She studied architecture at the Delhi School of Architecture, and wrote film scripts including In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones (1988) and Electric Moon (1992).

Roy was the first Indian woman to win the Booker Prize. Her book has also attracted controversy because of its portrayal of a love affair between a Christian woman and an outcast Hindu man.

After The God of Small Things she published essays on social issues, especially non-violence. In 1999 she became a spokesperson for environmental protesters who were campaigning against government plans to construct the Sardar Sarovar dam, part of the Narmada Valley Project.