About the author
Born in 1934 in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, Sunil Gangopadhyay came as
a refugee to Calcutta in 1947, following the partition of India. The family
suffered extreme poverty initially and Sunil, though only in his teens, was
forced to find employment. He still managed to continue his education,
taking his master?s degree from Calcutta University.
Sunil Gangopadhyay began his literary career as a poet, starting the
epoch-making magazine, Krittibas, in 1953. Storming into the field of the
novel with the trendsetting Atma Prakash (1966)?a powerful portrayal of
the frustration and ennui of the youth of Calcutta?he soon rose to become
the leading and most popular novelist in Bengali. Sei Somoy (1982), which
won him the Sahitya Akademi Award, Purba Paschim (1989) and Prothom
Alo (1996) are among his best novels.
