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    Nilanjana Roy

    Nilanjana Roy joined the Weekend FT as a columnist in July with a brief to write about life, literature, ideas and much more. She is the author of a fantasy duology, The Hundred Names of Darkness, and a collection of essays on reading, The Girl Who Ate Books. She has edited two anthologies, on Indian food writing and on Indian patriots, poets and prisoners, and has been a columnist for the Business Standard

    @nilanjanaroy  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Tuesday, 14 March, 2023
      Biography and memoir
      The persistence of the trauma memoir

      Where should the lines be drawn in the encouragement, promotion and marketing of stories about the misery of others?

    • Friday, 24 February, 2023
      Fiction
      The case against rewriting Roald Dahl

      Yes, sensibilities evolve — but outmoded or offensive beliefs can be flagged up in ways short of expunging them altogether

    • Friday, 3 February, 2023
      Fiction
      Don’t knock romance novels — they’re big business

      The much-derided genre is not only a sure earner for the publishing industry — it also moves with the times

    • Monday, 16 January, 2023
      Books
      In praise of book clubs — and how to do them well

      Spark debate, listen to everyone and don’t turn it into a party: top tips for running a happy book group

    • Wednesday, 4 January, 2023
      Poetry
      Why a Tamil classic makes a perfect start to 2023

      A new translation does justice to the joyous treatment of love and desire in the ‘Tirukkural’

    • Thursday, 15 December, 2022
      ReviewFiction
      A Dangerous Business — Jane Smiley’s brothel-based sleuths

      Two 1850s sex workers champion female empowerment by turning detective to solve the murders of young women

    • Friday, 2 December, 2022
      Books
      Wodehouse lightens the woes

      Some of the most compelling novels I’ve read this year tackle demanding themes — but do so with refreshing humour

    • Tuesday, 15 November, 2022
      Books
      When algorithms lend authors a helping hand

      A workshop on language-learning software has demonstrated its use as an aid — not a threat — to some human novelists

    • Tuesday, 1 November, 2022
      Books
      Children deserve better than this morass of poorly written books by celebrities

      The majority of celeb offerings are clunkily told with generic themes — but they appeal to the adults who buy the books

    • Friday, 21 October, 2022
      Fiction
      The online tactics that help novels go viral

      Use of platforms such as BookTok, Goodreads and Substack is expanding reach — and turning authors into entrepreneurs

    • Friday, 7 October, 2022
      Books
      The joy of short novels

      The most enjoyable route out of a reading rut is to delve into the miniature universe of a slim book

    • Friday, 23 September, 2022
      Books
      Art Spiegelman and the abiding power of Maus

      Three decades after his comic book about the Holocaust shook up the publishing world, the graphic novelist is to receive a lifetime achievement award

    • Friday, 9 September, 2022
      Books
      India seen through the eyes of its young women

      By going up-close and small-scale, female writers have gathered stories that offer a far fuller picture of the state of the nation

    • Friday, 26 August, 2022
      Books
      Women are under attack but can take inspiration from a 50-year-old feminist call to arms

      Considered subversive, ‘New Portuguese Letters’ by The Three Marias was banned and its authors imprisoned. The shock is, it has become as relevant today as it was in 1972

    • Wednesday, 10 August, 2022
      Book awards
      The glutted market for literary prizes

      Big changes are afoot with many writing awards closing — but maybe we don’t need so many

    • Friday, 29 July, 2022
      Books
      How to regain the habit of deep reading

      We are shaped by a lifetime of books read for pleasure, so what happens if we become skimmers?

    • Friday, 15 July, 2022
      Books
      The freedom and fellowship of writers in exile

      Fleeing writers are often the canaries in a coal mine, one of the first signs of a troubled nation

    • Friday, 1 July, 2022
      Books
      Don’t dismiss the creative output of prolific writers

      ‘I have a weakness for such authors because they trust that inspiration is a bottomless well, and are fearless about putting their work out there’

    • Thursday, 9 June, 2022
      Books
      In praise of the ‘holiday read’

      Summer books features have become a staple of publishing — though their origins lie far back in the 19th century

    • Friday, 3 June, 2022
      The Elizabethan age
      Elizabeth in India: the steel beneath the hats

      When I saw Indira Gandhi and the Queen in conversation, I believed women would rule the world

    • Tuesday, 31 May, 2022
      ReviewFiction
      Tomb of Sand — border-defying winner of the International Booker

      Geetanjali Shree’s first novel to be published in the UK is a tale of family and India’s partition, translated with flair by Daisy Rockwell

    • Tuesday, 17 May, 2022
      ReviewPoetry
      The Penguin Book of Indian Poets — a feast of literature

      Jeet Thayil’s selection of poems written in English is a dazzling collection vast in ambition and scope

    • Friday, 6 May, 2022
      Books
      The female gaze and its empowering transformation of mythology

      Agency replaces submissiveness when women are recast as protagonists, rather than victims or peripheral characters

    • Friday, 22 April, 2022
      Fiction
      The gift of Rabih Alameddine

      The stories of this year’s PEN/Faulkner award-winner are both enchanting and full of political fury

    • Friday, 1 April, 2022
      Books
      Anne Frank’s potent words

      More than 75 years since she wrote her diary, it remains as important as ever

    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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