Debut novel award for Nilanjana Roy

Columnist and editor Nilanjana Roy’s ‘The Wildings’ has won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. The work which has been described as “a startling narrative in which the characters are street cats in Delhi’s Nizamuddin East” beat five others from the Indian sub continent for the award which was started in 2008, and includes a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a trophy. The book, apparently came to Roy almost a decade ago when she started following the exploits of a friendly cat.