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May Blockbusters
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Anita Desai has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize; the Guardian recently called her ‘India’s greatest living writer’.
Her latest book, The Artist of Disappearance, blends irony, sympathy and a clear-eyed criticism of contemporary culture, in three novellas that explore the frailty and transforming power of art.
Maggie Gee has praised the way Desai’s work hides ‘devastating criticisms of the status quo just beneath the jeweled seduction of her surfaces’.
With influences as diverse as Virginia Woolf and Rilke, her books chronicle ‘forgotten, vanishing worlds, art and language that exist on the margins’, in the words of her daughter (and Booker winner) Kiran Desai.
The India of Anita Desai’s childhood transformed after Partition; later she left for new homes in England and the United States, though India remains her canvas.
This experience, she believes, led her to become a writer – to make sense of a fractured world. ‘It’s like having a jigsaw puzzle and having to see how to put the pieces together.’
Anita Desai will be joined in conversation by Hilary Harper.
Anita Desai appears as part of a double-bill with William Dalrymple. Book your discounted tickets to both sessions here.
Who?
Anita Desai
Anita Desai was born and educated in India. Her published works include many award-winning short story collections and novels, three of which have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, most recently Fasting, Feasting.
Hilary Harper
Hilary Harper has a degree in English Literature and Cultural Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing, and 30 years’ experience in radio. She’s been at the ABC since 2005. She’s covered everything from news and current affairs to traffic reporting, arts, health, gardening, science, finance, education, relationships, parenting, and much discussion of food.
May Blockbusters
Our fabulous double bills are back – bringing you three big nights of international writers, presented back-to-back.
From genre-bending fiction bestsellers to young adult authors with cult followings, and non-fiction superstars who’ll change the way you view the world … we’ve got a little something for everyone.
You can cherry-pick your favourite authors and book individual events, or make a night of it and see two authors at once. It’s up to you.
Where?
Presented in partnership with
