Amitav Ghosh, one of the most widely read and well-known Indian writers, is in New Zealand, talking about his recent books The Hungry Tide and The Glass Palace, among other things.

Mr Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956 and studied at Delhi, Alexandria and Oxford. His novels have won major awards all over the world. He now lives in New York, where he teaches at Columbia University.

The Hungry Tide was reviewed by Margie Thomson last weekend in Canvas magazine in the Herald. It sounds pretty fab. You can see a review of The Glass Palace here too. And Mr Ghosh’s rather extraordinary website is also worth a look…

He’s appearing at Downstage Theatre, Wellington from 12-1pm on Wednesday 6th October. For further information or bookings please contact the NZ Book Council on (04) 499 1569, or email events@bookcouncil.org.nz.

He’ll also be at Unity Books, 19 High Street, Central Auckland on the 7th, at 6pm. There’s nibbles and drinks at that one, so RSVP if possible to (09) 307 0731 or email unitybooks@xtra.co.nz to give them a vague idea of numbers.