literary

NEW DELHI: She may have returned to publishing fiction after a two decade hiatus, but Indian writer Arundhati Roy says she has no plans to sheath her polemical sword anytime soon in a world where the vulnerable are still being "smashed". Sitting in a cafe in the bowels of Old Delhi's labyrinthine streets on a chilly winter's afternoon, the 56-year-old still simmers with the kind of fiery political rhetoric that has made her one of her homeland's harshest modern day critics. "I would find it very hard to live with…

NEW YORK: A prominent US literary society devoted to freedom of expression is to honor French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo with an award at a New York gala in May.

LONDON: "Lost for Words" by British writer Edward St Aubyn is a merciless send-up of Britain's literary "Oscars", which stir up a media frenzy every year over which novel should win and a backlash if the favourite doesn't. The Man Booker prize winner is assured fame and fortune and increased sales at least in the short term. But the judges seem to have trouble trying to balance the promotion of new writers with rewarding established authors. They have a reputation for coming up with unexpected choices and have been accused…