Indian author Arundhati Roy has won the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. She received the award for her memoir Mother Mary Comes To Me.

The organisers announced the winners on March 28. The awards honour books written in English across six categories. These include fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography, poetry and criticism.

Roy’s memoir competed with works by well-known writers. The shortlist included Geraldine Brooks, Beth Macy, Hanif Kureishi and Miriam Toews.

Roy and her publisher shared the news on social media. They confirmed the win and thanked readers and supporters.

In Mother Mary Comes To Me, Roy writes about her relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. She explores family tensions, identity and personal struggles. The memoir shows how these experiences shaped her life and writing.

This book is Roy’s first memoir. It also marks her return to long-form storytelling after years of writing political essays.

Roy gained global fame with The God of Small Things. The novel won the Booker Prize in 1997. She became the first Indian woman to receive the prize.

This latest award adds to her global recognition. It also shows continued interest in her work across different genres.