From the winner of the JCB Prize for Literature 2023 · Perumal Murugan in conversation with Bezwada Wilson · Translated from the Tamil by Kavitha Muralidharan · Hardback
Perumal Murugan and Bezwada Wilson became friends during one of the most turbulent periods of Murugan's life. That friendship is what gives this unscripted conversation between the Tamil novelist and the activist its unusual candour.
At its centre is Wilson's decades-long campaign to end manual scavenging in India and restore dignity to sanitation workers — the work for which he is best known. But the two men range far beyond activism. They talk about caste and politics, about conviction and doubt, about what it costs to keep fighting, and about the friendship itself. Wilson is blunt about the 'saviour' narratives that outsiders build around communities in struggle, and about the self-respect those communities already have.
It is a book that refuses easy answers: provocative, humane and deeply personal, asking readers to face uncomfortable realities while imagining what a genuinely just society might look like.
About the author and translator
Perumal Murugan is an eminent Tamil author, scholar and former professor whose novels capture the social and agrarian landscapes of rural Tamil Nadu, exploring caste, community, desire and human relationships. His work has been translated into English and many Indian and international languages, and he won the JCB Prize for Literature in 2023.
Bezwada Wilson is a social activist and a founder of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, the movement to eradicate manual scavenging.
Kavitha Muralidharan is a bilingual journalist and translator with over two decades covering Tamil Nadu's politics and culture, including leadership roles at The Hindu Tamil and India Today. Her translations include Murugan's Amma and Sandalwood Soap and Other Stories.
Edition details
- India Hamish Hamilton hardback, 208 pages
- For sale in the Indian subcontinent only
- Published August 2026
