Arundhati Roy: Writing as Dissent

Arundhati Roy burst onto the literary world in 1997 with “The God of Small Things,” a novel

so powerful it won the Booker Prize and made her internationally famous almost overnight. But instead of retreating

into a comfortable literary life, Roy did something unexpected — she turned her voice

toward injustice. She spoke openly against war, nuclear weapons, environmental destruction,

and the displacement of India’s poorest communities. Her essays challenged powerful governments

and corporations, earning her admiration — and fierce backlash. She faced lawsuits, threats,

and public attacks, yet she refused to soften her words. For Roy, writing was never

just art; it was responsibility. She once said, “The only thing worth globalizing