THE NEW NOVEL FROM A (YOUNG) LITERARY STAR: With a style reminiscent of such European novelists as Javier Marias and W. G. Sebald, Anuk Arudpragasam’s abundant fans include Colm Tóibín, Leslie Jamison, Amitava Kumar and Garth Greenwell. An excerpt from A Passage North was published in The Paris Review in 2019.

A NOVELIST OF LOVE AND WAR: One of the very few books in fiction to reflect on the legacy of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, which spanned 1983 to 2009, Anuk Arudpragasam evokes an entire country and its history through the lives of unforgettable characters. In its depictions of love and war, Arudpragasam finds kinship with Michael Ondaatje’s THE ENGLISH PATIENT and Mohsin Hamid’s EXIT, WEST.

A STRONG CONTENDER IN THE PRIZE ARENA: Anuk’s first novel was published by Flatiron in 2016 and won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. It was named as ONE OF THE TOP TEN NOVELS of 2016 by The Wall Street Journal, and was a Best Book of 2016 by NPR, The Boston Globe, BuzzFeed, Financial Times, and The Globe and Mail.

Anuk Arudpragasam was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He studied philosophy in the United States, receiving a doctorate at Columbia University. His first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, was translated into seven languages, won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. He currently divides his time between India and Sri Lanka. 

Author Residence: Delhi, India

Author Hometown: Colombo, Sri Lanka

“In sentences of unusual beauty and clarity, Arudpragasam observes even the most mundane of actions . . . with an attention so absolute it feels devotional. He is equally gifted at atmospheric, sensory description that transports the reader to Sri Lanka and India and at examining the emotions—elation, fear, impatience, satisfaction, shame—that simmer below the surface of our everyday lives.”—The New York Times Book Review

“It can take just two novels to establish a writer as one of the most individual minds of their generation. With his new novel, a revelatory exploration of the aftermath of war, Arudpragasam cements his reputation. [An] extraordinary and often illuminating novel.”—Financial Times

“A tender elegy . . . [a] wholehearted and necessary act of preservation by its author.”—NPR

“[A] profound meditation on suffering . . . survivor’s guilt and war’s aftermath. In dense, hypnotic prose, Arudpragasam explores the desire for independence that enflamed the decades-long civil war, the violence that ensued and the emotional scars that refuse to heal.”—The Guardian

“Sumptuous . . . reminiscent of Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost.”—Oprah Daily

“Mesmerizing, political, intimate, unafraid—this is a superb novel, a novel that pays such close, intelligent attention to the world we all live in.”—Sunjeev Sahota, author of The Year of the Runaways

“Written with scrupulous attention to nuance and detail, A Passage North captures the rich interior of its protagonist's mind but also contemporary Sri Lanka itself, war-scarred, traumatized. At its center is an exquisite form of noticing, a way of rendering consciousness and handling time that connects Arudpragasam to the great novelists of the past.”—Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and The Testament of Mary

“Anuk Arudpragasam’s first book already showed what a fine novelist he was and this second novel provides proof, if any were needed, that he is a major writer, vastly accomplished.”—Amitava Kumar, author of Immigrant, Montana

“It’s difficult to think of comparisons for Arudpragasam’s work among current English-language writers; one senses, reading his two extraordinary novels, a new mastery coming into being.”—Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness and What Belongs to You

“This is a novel as both an elegy and a love song, not only for a place, but for the souls, living and dead, who are bound to that place—what an unforgettable and perfect reading experience.”—Paul Yoon, author of Snow Hunters and Run Me to Earth

“A luminously intelligent, psychologically intricate novel.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)