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              Nilanjana Roy

              Nilanjana Roy joined the Weekend FT as a columnist in July with a brief to write about life, literature, ideas and much more. She is the author of a fantasy duology, The Hundred Names of Darkness, and a collection of essays on reading, The Girl Who Ate Books. She has edited two anthologies, on Indian food writing and on Indian patriots, poets and prisoners, and has been a columnist for the Business Standard

              @nilanjanaroy  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)
              • Tuesday, 31 December, 2024
                Books
                My New Year’s resolution: make reading fun again

                I’ve set up a screen-free reading corner, with a ‘comfort stack’ of books that offer nothing but indulgence

                In a sunny meadow, a young girl in a blue dress sits on a chair, reading a book in the shade of a tree
              • Monday, 9 December, 2024
                Fiction
                Will humanity get lost in translation?

                AI could instantly open up a huge range of books in different languages — but fiction really does require that human touch

                Photograph of a robotic hand flicking through a printed book
              • Thursday, 7 November, 2024
                Books
                Do audiobooks count as reading?

                We’re in the midst of a listening revolution — and a new debate over text versus voice

                Two female writers sit on a sofa during a panel session to promote a novel
              • Tuesday, 22 October, 2024
                Books
                To keep, or not to keep books . . . 

                That is the question that eventually faces all booklovers when the ever-growing stacks around the house threaten to fall

                A smiling bearded man sits on a step ladder in a room, holding an open book. Behind him are shelves stuffed with books, in front is a desk with multiple books on it.
              • Wednesday, 9 October, 2024
                Books
                Why illness in fiction is going viral

                A renewed focus on pandemics, sanatoriums and troubled minds reveals much about the state of our times

                A first-person view of a hospital patient looking down at his legs in a hospital bed wearing pajamas
              • Friday, 13 September, 2024
                Fiction
                Why Elsa Morante’s work still resonates today

                On the 50th anniversary of her bestselling novel La Storia, we remember a writer inextricably linked to Italian political history

                A woman stands by a framed drawing of a cat, with a shelf of books visible behind her
              • Monday, 26 August, 2024
                Poetry
                Give me Instapoetry — and something more substantial too

                Bite-sized verse has its place, but two new anthologies offer a chance for deeper engagement with poetic traditions

                A poet recites verse at a public poetry reading
              • Wednesday, 7 August, 2024
                Books
                In celebration of bookshops

                When authors pay tribute to booksellers, it’s not only a virtuous circle — it’s a double dose of joy for readers too

                A photograph of a terrace overlooking wooded hillsides, with small white tables shaded in the sun by white umbrellas and a glimpse of a bookshop at the far end of the terrace
              • Tuesday, 23 July, 2024
                Books
                The lasting legacy of writer James Baldwin

                As the author’s centenary approaches, his courageous, powerful and sometimes prescient work is finding new audiences around the world

              • Tuesday, 9 July, 2024
                Books
                Pirates or princesses, the adventures we read as children shape us for life

                It’s an essential part of growing up, yet the number of kids who read purely for pleasure is at an all-time low

              • Tuesday, 25 June, 2024
                Books
                Writers on writers: why literary friends make the best biographers

                From Joan Didion to Toni Morrison: writers emerge most clearly in the memoirs of fellow authors

                A woman in her eighties, with straight shoulder-length hair and wearing a mauve sweather sits in shadow in a theatre seat, her expression serious and thoughtful
              • Tuesday, 4 June, 2024
                Books
                What do novelists have to say about election fever?

                With more than 80 countries going to the polls this year, it’s time to revisit the best fictional accounts of political high drama

                Looking down on a line of people in an alleyway
              • Tuesday, 21 May, 2024
                Books
                Anne Brontë — the sister we forgot

                The novelist’s bold writing and merciless eye make her feel like a writer for today

              • Monday, 6 May, 2024
                Books
                Frighteningly good — in praise of horror fiction

                Modern writers are breathing new life — and fresh ghosts and monsters — into a genre that reflects on real-world nightmares

                A person with an alarmed expression sits at a candlelit dinner table, cutlery in their hands, reading a book propped up against a jug. A black cat is seated next to the person
              • Tuesday, 23 April, 2024
                Books
                Why authors’ letters sometimes say more than their books

                Seamus Heaney’s touching acts of kindness, Jane Austen’s hangovers — an author’s correspondence reveals things that literature cannot

                A man with glasses looks into the rearview mirror of a car
              • Monday, 8 April, 2024
                Books
                Travelling mindfully through the pages of a book

                The best travel writers help us see faraway places — and the world around us — in a fresh light, especially post-pandemic

                Passengers queue to board a plane at an airport
              • Tuesday, 19 March, 2024
                Non-Fiction
                Books about Asia? It’s a golden age

                A fresh wave of historical studies shows that the ancient and medieval worlds were more closely linked than we used to think

              • Tuesday, 27 February, 2024
                Books
                The secret of a bestseller? Why word of mouth beats algorithms

                In the uncertain business of publishing, there is nothing more powerful than a reader who truly loves a book

                Two women and a man sit reading books
              • Wednesday, 14 February, 2024
                Books
                What makes a literary city?

                Some emerge naturally but others need a nudge, with bookshops, festivals and more, to welcome readers and writers

              • Wednesday, 31 January, 2024
                Books
                The British Library cyber breach was an attack on the world’s knowledge

                The impact from last year’s ransomware incident has spread to scholars, readers and writers across the globe

                A glass-fronted tower of bookshelves in which can be glimpsed the reflections of people sitting reading at desks
              • Monday, 15 January, 2024
                Books
                Our enduring fascination with Kafka

                As the centenary of the writer’s death approaches, is our world looking more Kafkaesque than he could ever have imagined?

                A sketch in black on a white background of a distorted human figure sat down
              • Monday, 1 January, 2024
                Books
                The bliss — and benefits — of slow reading

                Enjoying a book at a leisurely pace teaches you to sharpen your attention and improves your understanding

              • Tuesday, 5 December, 2023
                Books
                Take refuge in the gossip of the gilded age

                Memoirs of the socialites and swells of an earlier era offer perfect festive reading — without today’s celebrity spin

                Painting of a woman and, to one side, a man, both in Victorian dress, sitting at a dinner table in a dark room softly lit with red-shaded lamps
              • Tuesday, 21 November, 2023
                Books
                The delights of year-end reading lists

                Why ‘best books’ round-ups provide seasonal score-keeping fun — and a timely reminder of the benefits of venturing outside your usual genres

              • Saturday, 28 October, 2023
                Books
                Let animal spirits haunt your Halloween stories

                No tale of ghosts and scares is complete without the spooky presence of a feared familiar

                An owl perches in a tree at night
              Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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