Arundhati Roy on the Power of Empathy
Episode notes
How can you understand the whole story, and not just your own part in it? Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy came to Bozar in October 2025 to present Mother Mary Comes to Me, her long-awaited memoir revisiting a life of courageous dissent – a life deeply shaped by her relationship with her mother, the Indian educator and women’s rights activist Mary Roy.
In this episode from the Writers & Thinkers Stage series, joined by Belgian journalist and writer Catherine Vuylsteke, Arundhati Roy recalls her last visit to her mother’s home and reflects on how facing cruelty as a child shaped her voice as a writer – the deeply empathetic novelist she became.
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Credits Guest: Arundhati Roy. Interview: Catherine Vuylsteke. Presentation & Editing: Joline Vermeulen. Production & post-production: Seden Anlar. Graphic design: Jonas Mergan. Music: “Broken Circuits” — Telecasted, YouTube Audio Library.