Words At Large

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In Sea of Poppies (Viking), bestselling author Amitav Ghosh takes readers from the high seas to the poppy fields of India and the back alleys of a Chinese port. The novel, which was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, is a richly imagined tale of intrigue and romance set on the eve of the Opium Wars, in the mid 19th century. The narrative follows the fortunes of the Ibis, a ship carrying a motley assortment of characters ranging from a bankrupt Indian raja to a female French stowaway.

Eleanor Wachtel spoke to Amitav Ghosh on stage at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. They discuss his upbringing and his sense of dislocation that came from being the child of immigrants, his memories of the anti-Hindu riots of 1964 and other experiences that influenced his writing.

First aired November 9, 2008 on Writers & Company. [runs 52:06]

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