Amitav Ghosh
Awards & Honours
7
Awards Won
4
Honours
1
Rankings
3
Covers
2
Records
Amitav Ghosh's shelf of honors is remarkable for its breadth. He is the first English-language writer to win the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary prize, and the first to receive the Grand Prix at the Blue Metropolis Festival. His fiction has been recognized across genres, from the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction to the Sahitya Akademi Award for literary fiction. His non-fiction, particularly The Great Derangement, has made him a leading voice in climate discourse, and he has been named one of Foreign Policy's most important global thinkers.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Jnanpith Award
India's highest literary honor; first English-language writer to receive it.
Padma Shri
One of India's highest civilian honors.
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Elected in recognition of his literary achievements.
Honorary Doctorates
Received honorary degrees from institutions worldwide.
Rankings & Lists
Most Important Global Thinkers of the Past Decade
Magazine Covers
The Atlantic
July 2026
The Crisis That Novelists Can't Handle
New York Times Book Review
June 2026
Review of Ghost-Eye
The Guardian
April 2026
Review of Ghost-Eye
Records & Feats
First English-language writer to win the Jnanpith Award
In 2018, Ghosh became the first author writing in English to receive India's highest literary honor.
First English-language writer to win the Grand Prix at the Blue Metropolis Festival
He was the first English-language writer to receive this international literary prize.