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Rohinton Mistry (born 1952) is an -born Canadians 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.
He emigrated to Canada with his wife-to-be Freny Elavia in 1975 and they married shortly afterwards. 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.
Three years later, Penguin Books Canada published his collection of 11 short story, 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".Malieckal, Bindu (2000). "Rohinton Mistry". In Nelson, Emmanuel Sampath (Ed.), Asian American Novelists: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, pp. 219–28. Greenwood Publishing Group. .
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. It was for the Booker Prize and for the Trillium Award. It has been translated into German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish language 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 Marathi people. 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.
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 ClubNew, William H. (2003). A History of Canadian Literature, (3d ed.), p. 326. McGill-Queen's University Press. . in November 2001. It won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize.Faber and Faber paperback edition 1997
Family Matters (2002) is a consideration of the difficulties that come with ageing, to which topic Mistry returned in 2006 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.
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.
Awards and recognition
Selected works
Novels
Short stories and chapbooks
See also
External links
Categories: 1952 Births, Canadian Writers Of Asian Descent, Canadian Male Novelists, Governor General's Award–winning Fiction Writers, Indian Emigrants To Canada, English-language Writers From India, Living People, Members Of The Order Of Canada, Parsi People From Mumbai, People From Brampton, University Of Toronto Alumni, Indian Male Novelists, Parsi Writers, 20th-century Indian Novelists, Writers From Mumbai, Novelists From Maharashtra, 21st-century Indian Novelists, 20th-century Canadian Novelists, 21st-century Canadian Novelists, 20th-century Canadian Male Writers, 21st-century Canadian Male Writers, Gujarati Writers, Writers From Gujarat, Canadian People Of Parsi Descent, Amazon.ca First Novel Award Winners, Fellows Of The Royal Society Of Literature
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