Indian author Upamanyu Chatterjee has been awarded with the prestigious Officier des Arts et des Lettres (Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters) Awards by the French government in recognition of his exemplary contribution to the contemporary literature. 

 

Chatterjee received the medal and the citation from French Ambassador Jerome Bonnafont at the French embassy in New Delhi on Thursday (11^th December). After receiving the award he said that he is now working on a new book that will hit bookstores late next year.

 

The author was honored along with photographer Raghu Rai. Accepting the award, Chatterjee said he was proud to be in the same league as the legendary Balamurali Krishna, Mahasweta Devi and Raghu Rai, who have received the award.

 

Born in 1959 in Patna in Bihar, Chatterjee studied in St. Xavier's School and St. Stephen's College in Delhi. He joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1983. Following the success of his first novel, he lived as a writer in residence at the University of Kent in 1990. In 1998, he was appointed director of languages in the ministry of human resource development. His wife is a French woman. Chatterjee currently works as a labour commissioner in Mumbai.

 

His books include "The Last Burden" (1993), "English August: An Indian Story" (1998) "The Mammaries of The Welfare State" (2000) and "Weight Loss" (2006).