UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 36 of 150

Correct — B, Anuradha Roy. Her 2018 novel "All the Lives We Never Lived" won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2022 in the English category. Narrated by Myshkin, the novel reconstructs how, in 1937, his mother Gayatri left her family to pursue a life as an artist. Ranikhet-based Roy is also known for "The Folded Earth" and "Sleeping on Jupiter" (winner of the 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature).

• (a)Shobha De — A popular columnist and novelist ('Socialite Evenings', 'Starry Nights'); she did not write this novel and did not win the Sahitya Akademi Award for it.
• (c)Anita Desai — A distinguished novelist thrice shortlisted for the Booker ('Clear Light of Day', 'In Custody'), but she did not author 'All the Lives We Never Lived' — the sharpest bait, since Anita Desai and her daughter Kiran Desai are both famous novelists.
• (d)Sudha Murthy — An author and philanthropist known for 'Wise and Otherwise' and children's fiction; not the author of this literary novel.

The Sahitya Akademi Award is given annually by the Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters, founded 1954) for outstanding books in each of the 24 languages it recognises. Anuradha Roy, a contemporary Indian novelist writing in English, won the 2022 award in the English category for 'All the Lives We Never Lived' (published 2018).

The trap groups four well-known Indian women writers; only precise author-to-book pairing yields Anuradha Roy. 'Desai' is the most tempting distractor because both Anita and Kiran Desai are celebrated novelists, but neither wrote this book.

• 'All the Lives We Never Lived' (2018) → Anuradha Roy; won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2022 (English).
• The novel was also shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award 2020.
• Anuradha Roy's 'Sleeping on Jupiter' won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016.
• The Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters), founded 1954, awards across 24 languages.

• Confusing Anita Desai with her daughter Kiran Desai (both novelists)
• Assuming any famous Indian woman writer must be the prize-winning author

UPPSC and UPSC test recent literary awards by pairing the exact author with the exact book, prize and year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Anuradha Roy's novel that won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (2016) is:

  • (a)The Folded Earth
  • (b)Sleeping on Jupiter
  • (c)An Atlas of Impossible Longing
  • (d)All the Lives We Never Lived

  Answer(b) Sleeping on Jupiter — Roy's DSC Prize winner.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, was established in the year:

  • (a)1947
  • (b)1954
  • (c)1961
  • (d)1972

  Answer(b) 1954.