freedom, fascism, fiction

In her series of electrifying essays Arundhati Roy challenges us to reflect on the meaning of freedom in a world of growing authoritarianism. Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction, won the 2023 European Essay Prize. 

Her essays include meditations on language - public as well as private - and the role of fiction and alternative imaginations in current disturbing times. 

original book cover which has since been recalled

Roy likens the pandemic as a portal between one world and another. All the havoc its illness and devastation has left in its wake has given us pause. It is an invitation to the human race - an opportunity to imagine another world. 

Azadi consists of nine stand-alone essays, written between early 2018 and early 2020 and originally delivered as lectures or long-form published pieces.

Roy on the role of the pandemic

These essays show the pace at which freedom is being eroded in India and the effects of the hatred stoked up by those in power.

Roy writes repeatedly in response to Hindu fundamentalist dominion in India - made manifest in the second electoral victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi visits the 'terracotta warriors' in Xian, China, 2015

"Hope lies in texts that can accommodate and keep alive our intricacy, our complexity, and our density against the onslaught of the terrifying, sweeping simplifications of fascism." 

Azadi is the outcome of a life of writing from the frontline of solidarity and humanism - from a writer who at the height of her literary eloquence and influence. May more of us listen to her powerful message.