RAHUL BHATTACHARYAWINS the £10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize
with his first novel The Sly Company of People Who Care (Picador)
2012 judges:
Nick Laird, Michèle Roberts and Kamila Shamsie
admired ‘Bhattacharya’s verve and style as he brilliantly evokes the
history and inhabitants and landscape of Guyana’.
Nick Laird said he had ‘seldom read a book with so much energy, and on almost
every page there were little stylistic twists or felicities which had me stopping to
admire them. The novel is a testament both to his potential and to his achievement.’
Michèle Roberts praised ‘one of the most exhilarating novels I have read for years.
This picaresque story, funny, tough and romantic, swerves around all kinds of inner
and outer landscapes and offers unforgettable vignettes of a host of characters. He
has invented a beautiful and original language, mixing street poetry and sharply
sensual poetry.’
Kamila Shamsie commended ‘The combination of Bhattacharya’s prose style, his
great curiosity and generous-though-not-uncritical eye, the light touch with which
he conveys knowledge, and the sheer pleasure of his company.’
Rahul Bhattacharya lives in Delhi and is the author of the cricket tour book Pundits from Pakistan, fourth in The Wisden Cricketers’ list of best cricket books of all time, and winner of the Crossword Award for most popular book, 2005. The Sly Company of People Who Care was also the winner of the Hindu Literary Prize 2011 and was
shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2011.