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357. Wild Fictions
Amitav Ghosh with Julia Wheeler
Speakers
Join us for an engaging conversation as Amitav Ghosh discusses Wild Fictions, a collection of his writings from the past twenty-five years, with Julia Wheeler. This expansive work explores the themes that have defined Ghosh’s literary journey: literature and language, climate change and the environment, human lives, travel, and discoveries.
Through topics ranging from the commodification of the clove to the rich diversity of Bengal’s mangrove forests and the radical fluidity of multilingualism, Wild Fictions offers a critique of imperial violence and the fictions we weave to navigate history. It is a call to sensitivity, empathy, and the urgent need to repair our relationship with volatile landscapes.
With his unique combination of moral passion, intellectual curiosity, and literary elegance, Amitav Ghosh invites us to see the world anew in this thought-provoking discussion. The session will be followed by a book signing with the author.
In collaboration with:
In this episode of BIC Talks, Amitav Ghosh will be in conversation with Julia Wheeler .This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in January 2025.
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Speakers
Amitav Ghosh
Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. He pursued his studies in Delhi, Oxford, and Alexandria. Renowned for his celebrated works of fiction and non-fiction, his bibliography includes The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, the Ibis Trilogy (Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire), The Great Derangement, Gun Island, The Nutmeg’s Curse, Jungle Nama, The Living Mountain, and Smoke and Ashes.
Translated into over thirty languages, Ghosh’s work has earned global acclaim and numerous awards. In 2019, Foreign Policy magazine recognized him as one of the most influential global thinkers of the decade, and he became the first English-language writer to receive the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious Erasmus Prize for his profound contributions to understanding the planetary crisis and climate change.
Julia Wheeler
Julia Wheeler is a writer, journalist, and interviewer with over fifteen years of experience at the BBC, including her role as the BBC’s Gulf Correspondent based in the UAE, where she covered the Arabian Peninsula. Julia is a sought-after moderator and has chaired discussions at literature and science festivals across the UK and internationally, including in the Middle East, South Asia, and the US.
She has moderated events at esteemed venues such as The British Library, The Royal Geographical Society, 10 Downing Street, and even onboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. In 2024, Julia served as a judge for the Dylan Thomas Prize and is the Chair of Judges for the 2025 Stanfords Travel and Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award. She is also a trustee of the Stratford Literary Festival.
