Major Indian English Writers

Indian English Literature (IEL) refers to the body of works by writers in India who write in the English language and
whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. It is also associated with the
works of the members of the Indian diaspora such as Kiran Desai, Jhupma Lahiri and Salman Rushdie, who are of
Indian descent.
Major Indian English Poets Major Indian English Prose Writers (Novelists)
1. Toru Dutt (1856-1877) 1. R.K. Narayan (1906-2001)
2. Rabindra Nath Tagore (1861-1941) 2. Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004)
3. Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) 3. Anita Desai (1937-)
4. Kamala Das (1934-2009) 4. Amitav Ghosh [1956-]
5. Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) 5. Shashi Deshpande (1938-)
6. Arun Kolatkar (1932-2005) 6. Manju Kapoor (1948-)
7. Jayant Mahapatra (1928-) 7: Arundhati Roy (1961-)
8. Ruskin Bond (1934-)

Major Indian English Poets

POET MAJOR WORKS
1. TORU DUTT [1856 - 1877] Her Major Collections of Poetry :
• Bengali 1. Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan
• She knew four languages:- 2. A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields
1. Bengali (A collection of poems translated from French into English)
2. Sanskrit Major Poems :
3. English 1. Lotus (Sonnet - Rivalry between Rose and Lily)
4. French. 2. Our Casurina Tree (a nostalgie Lyric)
• Cause of death- Tuberculosis 3. Lakshaman
4. Sita
2. RABINDRA NAT TAGORE [1861-1941] Major Works of Tagore :
• He was a versaltile genius (poet, novelist, 1. Geetanjali (Song offerings)- 1912
dramatist, essayist, short-story • Tagore received Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for
writer & painter) Geetanjali. It was originally written in Bengali and
translated into English by Tagore himself.
2. Chandalika (play)
3. Gora (play)
• Rabindra Nath Tagore adopted a Pen-name for • W.B. Yeats palyed a vital role for the promotion
his earlier poems/writings- Bhanursingho of his poetry espccially Geetangali.
• The National Anthems of India and Bangladesh
are composed by him.
3. SAROJINI NAIDU (Sarojini Chattopadhyay) Major Collections of Naidu :
• She is known as the nightingale of 1. Golden Threshold
india, because of her sweet singing. 2. The Bird of Time.
• She was a singer and poet. 3. The Broken Wing.

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 • She was born at Hyderabad in a Brahmin family.
• She played an active role in Indian National Major Poems of Sarojini Naidu :
Independence Movement under the influence 1. Indian Weavers
of Gandhi. 2. The Song of Radha, a Milkmaid
• After Independence she became the governor of U.P. 3. Planquin Bearers.
• The themes of her poems are life, death, love, 4. In the Bazzars of Hyderabad
nature and Indian scenes.
4. KAMALA DAS (1934-2009) Her Major Works :
• Pen name : Madhavi Kutti 1. My Grandmother’s House
• She was born in Kerala. 2. A Hot Noon in Malabar
3. An Introduction (a confessional poem)
• She wrote both in Malayalam and in English. 4. Summer in Calcutta
• She was awarded the Sahitya Akadami Award 5. Visitor to the City
in 1985 for her volume “Collected Poems.” 6. Farewell to Bombay
• She is known as a confessional poet. 7. My story (her autobiography)
• Her writings in Malayalam were written with • Her poetry is confessional and autobiographical
the name of Madhavi Kutti. • Feminism, Identity problems, Man-Woman
• At the last stage of her life, she adopted Islam relationship, Marriage, Sex, Female-body and
and became Kamla Suraiya Nostalgia are the recurrent themes of her poetry.
5. NISSIM EZEKEIL (1924-2004) His Major Poems
• He is a Jewish poet. He was born in 1. Night of Scorpion
Bombay. 2. Enterprise
• He was a professor of English in Bombay 3. The Journey of Life
University. 4. Case Study
• He is called urban-poet. Poetic Collections of Ezekeil
• His poetry reflects hollowness ond alienaton 1. The Exact Name
problems of modern city life. 2. The Unfinished Man
• Some of his poems express Jewish and 3. A Time for Change
Biblical myths. 4. Latter-Day Psalms (The Sahitya Akademi Award 1983)
• Father of Modern Indian English Poetry Ezekeil edited many journals like :
1. Quest 2. India 3. Poetry 4. Imprint
6. ARUN KOLATKAR (1932-2005) Major Works :
• Marathi 1. Jejuri (Collection of poems)
• He was awarded the Sahitya 2. Chaitanya
Akadami Awardin 2005. 3. The Bus
• Kolatkar’s poetry is satirical in tone and 4. An Old Woman
realistic in description.
7. JAYANT MAHAPATRA(1928-) His Collections of Poetry :
• Oriya 1. Relationship
• He served as a lecturer in physics 2. A Rain of Rites
in various colleges of Orisa. 3. Close the Sky, Ten by Ten
• Oriya landscape has a strong presence in his poetry.
• He was awarded the Sahitya Akadami Award in Famous Poems :
1981 for the English language. (The first English 1. A Missing Person
poet who got Sahitya Akadami Award) 2. Lost
• He edits an important magazine “Chandrabhaga” 3. The Logic
(Title of the magazine is on the name of a river 4. Life Signs
in Orisa).
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 Major Indian English Prose Writers (Novelists)

1. R.K. NARAYAN (1906-2001) His Major Novels :

• Born at Madras in a Tamil family. 1. Swami and Friends (first novel, 1935)
• Full Name : Rasipuram Krishnaswami 2. The Bachelor of Arts (semi-autobiographical)
Iyer Narayanswami. 3. Mr. Sampath
• His novels were published by the recommendation 4. The English Teacher (autobiographical)
of Graham Greene (a British novelist) 5. The Guide (a film is also made with the same title)
• He was awarded the “Sahitya Akadami Award” 6. The Financial Expert
for “Guide” in 1960. 7. Vendor of Sweets
• Malgudi is a fictional place. It is the locale/setting 8. The Painter of Signs
of his novels and stories. 9. The Man Eater of Malgudi.
• My Days : R.K. Narayanan’s autobiography 10. A Tiger for Malgudi.
• My Dateless Dairy is R.K.Narayanan’s collection of 11. Waiting for Mahatma.
autobiographical Essays
Collection of Stories :
1. Malgudi Days
2. An Astrologer’s Day and Other Stories.
3. Cyclone and Other Stories.
2. MULK RAJ ANAND (1905-2004) Major Novels :
• Born at Peshawar (Punjab) in a Brahmin 1. The Untouchable (Bakha : Main Character)
family. 2. The Coolie
• He is the most appealing of the “Trio” 3. Two leaves and a Bud
novelists. 4. Accross the Black Waters
• His works are the voices of lower strata of society. 5. The Sword and the Sickle
• Autobiography
1. Morning Face (1968 - Sahitya Academy Award)
3. ANITA DESAI (1937-) Major Novels :
• Anita Majumdar is her maiden name 1. Cry, the peacock
• Educated at Miranda College, Delhi 2. Bye Bye, Black Bird
• Her works reflect the individual problems 3. The Fire on Mountain. (Sahitya Akademi Award in1978)
of metropolitan cities. 4. Village by the Sea
• Blend of Indian and Western culture. 5. The Zigzag Ways (2004)
• She was three times nominated for the Man
Booker Prize but not awarded.
(The Booker Award was started in 1969. It is
given to the novelists of commonwealth countries.)
4. AMITAV GHOSH [1956-] The Circle of Reason (1986)
• U.S.A. Settled The Shadow Lines (1988)-The Sahitya Akademi Award -1989
• Member of the Indian Diaspora The Calcutta Chromosome (1995)
The Glass Palace (2000)
The Hungry Tide (2004)
• Known for his English language historical fictions. Sea of Poppies (2008)
• The Sahitya Akademi Award -1989. (The Shadow Lines) River of Smoke (2011) Ibis trilogy
• The Padma Shri award - 2007. Flood of Fire (2015)
• The 54th Jnanpith award - 2018. Gun Island (2019)
Jungle Nama (2021)
Dancing in Cambodia and at Large in Burma (1998; Essays)
The Imam and the Indian (2002; Essays)

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5. SHASHI DESHPANDE (1938-)
• Born in Dharwad, Karnataka,
the daughter of the Kannada dramatist
and writer Adya Rangacharya
and Sharada Adya.
• The Sahitya Akademi Award : in 1990
(for the novel That Long Silence )
• The Padma Shri Award : in 2009
NOVELS
1. The Dark Holds No Terrors, (1980)
2. If I Die Today (1982)
3. Roots and Shadows (1983)
4. That Long Silence, (1989) The Sahitya Akademi Award : in 1990
5. A Matter of Time, (1996)
6. The Binding Vine, (2002)
7. Small Remedies (2000)
8. Shadow Play, (2013)
9. Strangers to Ourselves, (2015)

MEMOIR
• Listen to Me

6. MANJU KAPUR : (1948-) NOVELS

• Taught English at Delhi University’s 1. Difficult Daughters (1998)
Miranda House for years. 2. A Married Woman (2003)
3. Home (2006)
4. The Immigrant (2008)
5. Custody (2011)
6. Shaping the World: Women Writers on Themselves, ed.
• Her first novel, Difficult Daughters, won Manju Kapur (2014)
the 1999 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, 7. Brothers (2016)
best first book, Europe and South Asia.

TELEVISION AND CINEMA ADOPTIONS

1. Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (a daily soap opera on Star Plus) based on Manju Kapur’s novel “Custody”
2. Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil, (a daily soap opera on Star Plus) based on Manju Kapur’s novel “The Immigrant”.
3. The Married Woman, (a web series), based on Manju Kapur’s novel “A Married Woman”.

7. (Suzanna) ARUNDHATI ROY : (1961-) NOVELS

• Awarded the Man Booker Award-1997. 1. The God of Small Things (1997 the Booker Award)
• The Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005 2. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017)
for The Algebra of Infinite Justice.
NON-FICTIONS
1. The Algebra of Infinite Justice (2002)
2. Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction (2020)

8. RUSKIN BOND : (1934-) NOVELS

• U.K. born, settled in Mussoorie 1. The Room on the Roof
• An Anglo Indian author 2. Rusty Runs Away
• The Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 3. A Flight of Pigeons (1978 Bollywood film Junoon )
for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. 4. The Sensualist
• The Padma Shri Award in 1999 5. Delhi is Not Far
• Awarded Padma Bhushan in 2014. 6. Angry River
7. Strangers in the Night
• Rusty is a popular fictional character created 8. Grandfather's Private Zoo
by Ruskin Bond. 9. The Blue Umbrella (2005 Bollywood film with the same title.
• The Rusty stories have been adapted into 10. When the Night Falls
a Doordarshan TV series Ek Tha Rusty. FAMOUS STORIES :
1. The Night Train at Deoli,
2. Time Stops at Shamli
3. Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
4. Seven Husbands of Susan's (film- Saat Khoon Maaf)
5. Ranji's Wonderful Bat

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 LITERARY AWARDS

1. The Jnanpith Award

• The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award.
• The Jnanpith Award is presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their “outstanding
contribution towards literature".
• Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English, with no posthumous conferral.

Sole Recipient for the contribution in the Literature of the English Language
• Amitav Ghosh : the 54th Jnanpith award in 2018.

2. The Sahitya Akademi Award

• The Sahitya Akademi Award is the second-highest literary honor in India.
• The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, aims at "promoting Indian literature throughout the
world".
• The Akademi annually confers on writers of "the most outstanding books of literary merit".
• The awards are given for works published in any of the 24 languages recognised by the akademi.
• Instituted in 1954, the award recognizes and promotes excellence in writing and acknowledge new trends.
• The annual process of selecting awardees runs for the preceding twelve months.
• As of 2015, the award comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh (US$1,300).

Recipients
Year Writer Book Category of Books
1960 R. K. Narayan The Guide Novel
1978 Anita Desai Fire on the Mountain Novel
1981 Jayanta Mahapatra Relationship Poetry
1983 Nissim Ezekiel Latter-Day Psalms Poetry
1985 Kamala Das Collected Poems Poetry
1989 Amitav Ghosh The Shadow Lines Novel
1990 Shashi Deshpande That Long Silence Novel
1992 Ruskin Bond Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra Novel
2005 Arundhati Roy The Algebra of Infinite Justice Essays

3. Nobel Prize
Rabindra Nath Tagore got the Nobel prize in 1913 for Geetanjali.

4. Man Booker Award

• Arundhati Roy was awarded the Man Booker Award for her first novel The God of Small Things in 1997.

5. Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

Manju Kapur got the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for her first novel, Difficult Daughters, in 1999.