Rohinton Mistry wins Neustadt Literature Prize 2012

Critically acclaimed Indian-Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry has been selected as the winner of the 2012 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

"Mistry writes with great passion, and his body of work shows the most compassionate and astute observations of the human condition, making him one of the most exciting and important contemporary novelists writing in the English language," Samrat Upadhyay was quoted in his nominating statement for Mistry by "World Literature Today".

The $50,000 Neustadt Prize, awarded every two years, is the only international literary award which gives equal opportunity to poets, playwrights and novelists.

Rohinton Mistry has been selected as the winner of the 2012 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 in Bombay and graduated in mathematics from the University of Bombay in 1974. He immigrated to Canada with his wife the following year, settling in the Toronto area.

Mistry has penned three novels - "Such a Long Journey" which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Overall Winner, Best Book, "A Fine Balance" and "Family Matters".

His latest book, "The Scream", was illustrated by Tony Urquhart, one of Canada's leading contemporary artists.

"Such a Long Journey" also had its share of controversy as the Bombay University was forced to withdraw the book from its curriculum after Shiv Sena protested over its alleged "anti-Marathi" content.

The Neustadt Prize, awarded by University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, "World Literature Today," is widely considered to be the most prestigious international prize after the Nobel Prize in Literature and counts among its winners names like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz and Max Frisch.

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