Indra Sinha

Who is Indra Sinha?

Indra Sinha is a British writer of English and Indian descent. "Animal's People", his most recent novel, was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Europe and South Asia.

Animal's People, set in the fictional Indian city of Khaufpur, was a reworking of the Bhopal disaster based on Sinha's long association working with the Bhopal survivors. His earlier works include translations of ancient Sanskrit texts into English, a non-fiction memoir of the pre-internet generation, and a novel, The Death of Mr. Love, based on the case of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra.

Formerly a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, London, and, from 1984, Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time. He became known for hard-hitting, campaigning advertising for charities such as Amnesty International and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, but became increasingly disenchanted with commercial advertising. He resigned from the agency in 1995 to concentrate on writing.

Sinha is the son of an Indian naval officer and an English writer. He was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, Rajasthan in India; Oakham School, Rutland, England and Pembroke College, Cambridge in England, where he studied English literature. He and his wife live in Sussex. They have three grown-up children.