Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 (PTI) Kerala’s leading media group Mathrubhumi on Wednesday presented the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year 2026 award to acclaimed author Arundhati Roy for her work “Mother Mary
Comes to Me”.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a sculpture.
According to a statement here, the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award honours an outstanding work that has left a lasting impression on readers and has contributed meaningfully to contemporary literature.
It is conferred on an English-language book published in India, either originally written in English or translated into it from a regional Indian language.
The 2026 award marks the seventh edition of this prestigious honour.
Arundhati Roy is a significant voice in Indian English literature and is internationally renowned for winning the Booker Prize for her debut novel, “The God of Small Things”.
In “Mother Mary Comes to Me”, Roy explores her complex and often strained relationship with her mother, Mary Roy.
Mary Roy was a noted activist and educationist who fought a prolonged legal battle to secure equal inheritance rights for Syrian Christian women in India.
Speaking at the venue, M V Shreyamskumar, Managing Director Mathrubhumi Group said, “Arundhati Roy has the rare ability to convey deep emotional complexity in a few powerful sentences—something others might take entire books to achieve.” He said that her craft combines clarity with intensity and added that in an era marked by the politics of hatred, Roy has remained fierce and honest, consistently speaking truth to power in a turbulent political climate.
Author Roy described the book as her most difficult to write, saying she often wrote at night and then reflected on it in the morning. She explained that it was her attempt to confront the most intense feelings and fears.
She spoke of her mother as “the wildest woman” she has ever known and called the book a work of love, written in appreciation of her mother’s light and darkness alike, the statement said.
The award was presented on the eve of the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters, which is set to begin here on Thursday. PTI TGB SA
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-17695720296911102.webp)
