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Vikas Swarup biography

Author Biography  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Vikas Swarup

Vikas Swarup

How to pronounce Vikas Swarup: Suwa-roop

Vikas Swarup Biography

Vikas Swarup was born in Allahabad, India in a family of lawyers.

In his diplomatic career, Vikas has been posted to various countries such as Turkey (1987-1990), the United States (1993-1997) Ethiopia (1997-2000), the United Kingdom (2000-2003) and South Africa (2006-2009). He served as Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe, Japan from 2009 to 2013. Currently, he is posted in New Delhi as the Official Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

He penned his first novel, Q&A, in two months, when he was posted in London. Published in 2005 by Doubleday/Random House (UK & Commonwealth), Harper Collins (Canada) and Scribner (US) it has been published in 43 languages. It was short listed for the Best First Book by the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and won South Africa's Exclusive Books Boeke Prize 2006 as well as the Paris Book Fair's Reader's Prize, the Prix Grand Public, in 2007. The film version of Q&A, titled 'Slumdog Millionaire', directed by Danny Boyle, took the world by storm, winning more than 70 awards including four Golden Globes, 7 BAFTAs and a staggering 8 Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

His second novel, Six Suspects (2008) has been translated into more than 30 languages. Vikas' third novel, The Accidental Apprentice was published by Simon & Schuster in the UK and Commonwealth in 2013. It was released in the US in July 2014 by St. Martin's Press. It has also been translated into all major languages. The Indian language film rights have been acquired by Matchbox Films and the Bollywood version is expected to be directed by noted filmmaker Sriram Raghvan.

Vikas Swarup's website

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Books by this Author

Books by Vikas Swarup at BookBrowse
The Accidental Apprentice jacket Six Suspects jacket Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Vikas Swarup but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Katherine Boo

    Katherine Boo

    Katherine Boo is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a former reporter and editor for The Washington Post. Her reporting has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize, a MacArthur "Genius" grant, and a National Magazine Award for ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire)

    Try:
    Behind the Beautiful Forevers
    by Katherine Boo

  • Matthew Desmond

    Matthew Desmond

    Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, he joined the Harvard Society of Fellows as a Junior Fellow. He is the author... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire)

    Try:
    Evicted
    by Matthew Desmond

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