Rohinton Mistry Biography

Rohinton Mistry is an Indian-born Canadian writer. He is originally from India, but currently resides in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He belongs to the Parsi community and practices Zoroastrianism. Rohinton Mistry was born on 3rd July 1952 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He graduated from the University of Mumbai with a degree in BA in Mathematics and Economics. In 1975, he immigrated to Canada with his wife and settled in Toronto where he studied at the University of Toronto and acquired a BA in English and Philosophy degree.

Rohinton won two Hart House literary prizes (he was the first to win two), at the University of Toronto, for stories published in the Hart House Review and Canadian Fiction Magazine's annual Contributor's Prize for 1985. After two years, Penguin Books Canada published his collection of eleven short stories as Tales from Firozsha Baag. Later, it was published in the U.S. as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag.

In 1991, his second book, Such a Long Journey, was published. The novel won the Governor General's Award, the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. The book was also short listed for the prestigious Booker Prize and the Trillium Award. The book was translated into German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Japanese Languages and has also been made into a film.

In 1995, he came out with his third book and second novel, A Fine Balance. The novel won the second annual Giller Prize in 1995 and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction in 1996. In November 2001, the book was selected for Oprah's Book Club and sold thousands of additional copies throughout North America. It also won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was short listed for the 1996 Booker prize.

In 2008, Mistry came out with a short fiction book, The Scream which was published as a separate volume, in support of World Literacy of Canada, with illustrations by Tony Urquhart. Rohinton Mistry's books represent the diverse aspect of Indian socio-economic life customs and religion. Many of Mistry's writings are mark "Indo-nostalgic" and his literary papers are kept in the Clara Thomas Archives at York University. In 2012, Mistry got a Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate.