Booker Prize 1997: Complete list of winners

The 1997 Booker Prize announced what would become one of the most celebrated literary debuts of the decade. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things claimed the prestigious award, introducing readers worldwide to her luminous, kaleidoscopic prose and the intricate world of Kerala’s Syrian Christian community. At just 30 years old, Roy became the first woman of Indian origin to win the Man Booker Prize, a watershed moment for the award’s recognition of global voices and postcolonial literature. The novel’s victory wasn’t merely a recognition of Roy’s extraordinary talent—it was a signal that the literary establishment was ready to embrace narratives that defied conventional structure and celebrated the “small things” of everyday life with revolutionary intensity.

The God of Small Things tells the intertwined stories of fraternal twins navigating family secrets, forbidden love, and the consequences of caste and class in 1960s India. Roy’s breakthrough win elevated the Booker Prize’s international profile and sparked conversations about representation that would resonate throughout subsequent years. The novel’s lyrical language, inventive use of punctuation, and unflinching exploration of tragedy and politics captured something essential about human vulnerability, making it a defining work of 1990s literature.

Below, you’ll find comprehensive details about the 1997 Booker Prize winner and the broader context of that year’s literary landscape.

Fiction

• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy