Indian author Ghosh wins top Dutch prize

Amsterdam: Acclaimed Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the coveted Dutch Erasmus Prize for his writings on climate change and its impact on humanity,...

Amsterdam: Acclaimed Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the coveted Dutch Erasmus Prize for his writings on climate change and its impact on humanity, especially on the Indian subcontinent.

Ghosh "has delved deeply into the question of how to do justice to this existential threat that defies our imagination," the prize committee said in a statement.

The Erasmus Prize, due to be presented by Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Tuesday, is awarded for an "exceptional contribution to the humanities, the social sciences or the arts, in Europe and beyond."

The winner receives a cash prize of 150,000 euros ($157,000).

The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, which awards the prize, noted that Ghosh had described how the effects of climate change have been "inextricably linked" to human destiny on the Indian subcontinent.