Arundhati Roy Receives Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace: Report

Arundhati Roy recently received the prestigious Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace, one of South Korea’s most notable literary honours. The award was presented to her at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Roy joined the event via video call.

The Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace, worth $50,000, was established in 2017 to commemorate the literary genius of the late Lee Hochul, one of South Korea’s most celebrated writers. Described as a “prolific dissident writer” by The Korea Times, Lee Hochul wrote novels based on the national division and separated families in North and South Korea. Last year, Nuruddin Farah, a leading novelist from Africa, received the award.

Also Read: Complaint Filed Against Arundhati Roy For Her Remarks On NPR Row

What You Should Know: 

• Arundhati Roy recently received the prestigious Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace, one of South Korea’s most notable literary honours.
• The award was presented to her at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.
• Arundhati Roy attended the event via video call.
• Many personalities from the world of journalism and literature congratulated Roy on social media. 

Arundhati Roy has tackled various pertinent social and political issues in almost all her works, including novels like The God of Small Things, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, My Seditious Heart, and Listening to Grasshoppers. Previously, she has also received other notable awards like the Man Booker Prize (1997), Sydney Peace Prize (2004), and the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing (2011). Various personalities from the world of journalism and literature took to social media to extend their congratulations to Roy on her latest win. Author and journalist Saba Naqvi congratulated Roy on Twitter and said that it was great that the latter “wins outside the US Europe zones” as well.

And #ArundhatiRoy wins the super prestigious Lee Hochul Literary Prize for Peace. Some call it the South Korean Booker. It’s just great that this Indian writer wins also outside the US Europe zones. https://t.co/1TAMr89Mr7

— Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) November 20, 2020

Delhi-based writer and photojournalist Mayank Austen Soofi, popularly known as 'The Delhiwalla', also celebrated Roy’s win on Instagram:

A post shared by Mayank Austen Soofi (@thedelhiwalla)

Also Read: Govt Arresting Those Who Work For Poor: Arundhati Roy

Earlier this month, Roy grabbed news headlines when her book Walking with the Comrades was withdrawn from the postgraduate English syllabus at Tamil Nadu’s Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. The withdrawal was based on complaints by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), who condemned the book for its "anti-national subject". Various political parties and social organisations have opposed the move and are demanding that the book be reinstated in the syllabus. Read more about it here.

Picture Credits: The Economic Times

Tarini Gandhiok is an intern with SheThePeople.TV.