Wild Fictions : Essays by Amitav Ghosh
From the significance of the commodification of the clove to the diversity of the mangrove forests in Bengal and the radical fluidity of multilingualism, Wild Fictions is a powerful refutation of imperial violence, a fascinating exploration of the fictions we weave to absorb history, and a reminder of the importance of sensitivity and empathy.
With the combination of moral passion, intellectual curiosity and literary elegance that defines his writing, Amitav Ghosh makes us understand the world in new, and urgent, ways. Together, the pieces in Wild Fictions chart a course that allows us to heal our relationships and restore the delicate balance with the volatile landscapes to which we all belong.
'We owe a great debt to Ghosh's brilliant mind, avenging pen and huge soul' --- Naomi Klein
'Urgent, beautiful and far-reaching . . . it should be essential reading' --- The Times Literary Supplement on The Nutmeg's Curse
'Consistently stimulating' --- The Guardian on The Great Derangement
'He has surpassed many historians in his ability to synthesize a wealth of research with remarkable intellectual clarity' --- The Times on Smoke and Ashes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta, and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; he studied in Delhi, Oxford and Alexandria. He is the author of several acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction including The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, the Ibis Trilogy (comprising the novels Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire), Gun Island, The Great Derangement, The Nutmeg's Curse, Jungle Nama and The Living Mountain.
Amitav Ghosh's work has been translated into more than thirty languages. He has been awarded and felicitated across the world.In 2019 Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the most important global thinkers of the past decade. The same year, the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, was conferred on him: he was the first English-language writer to receive it. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Erasmus Prize for his writings on the planetary crisis and climate change.
