Write On! interviews Ruthvika Rao
Ruthvika Rao is from Hyderabad, India. Her debut novel, The Fertile Earth, was the winner of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing prize 2026, and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Chautauqua Prize, the Crossword Book Award, and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and the University of Toronto. Her second novel, All Our Evenings, is published in North America by Flatiron Books, and in India by Penguin Random House.
WO: How would you describe your writing to someone new to it?
RR: Both my novels look at themes of love, friendship, class and violence, though in very different contexts. One of the greatest pleasures in life is reading a novel. To be utterly immersed in this other world, to be caught up in the lives of characters, to leave the novel with a sensation of bittersweet parting, to think of the characters now and then years later. I hope this is what I achieve with my novels.
WO: Can you tell us a bit about your latest novel, All Our Evenings?
RR: All Our Evenings is set in 1990s Hyderabad. It is about three teenagers: Arjun, Ruhee, and Ganesh, who forge an unexpected bond. Over the course of a summer, they discover love, friendship, and solace from their troubled families. An abandoned house in their neighbourhood, the red house, becomes the site of their intimate friendship. But one night, an unexpected act of violence at the red house shatters their lives forever.
WO: What inspired you to write in the first place, and what inspires you now?
RR: Beautiful language, richly rendered images. It is the first thing I remember about reading or writing. It is a thrill to find the exact word that goes in an exact place in a sentence. It is the love of language that continues to move and inspire me.
WO: The current issue of Write On! explores the theme of nostalgia, reflecting on the often rose-tinted view we have of the past. How important do you think it is to acknowledge what came before in your own writing? Or do you think nostalgia can hold you back from moving forward?
RR: Fiction is memory and imagination taken together, to become a third thing which is both and neither. It shows a way of seeing that is particular to the writer, and often this is a revelation to the writer as well. Memory is a rich resource, but nostalgia feels to me is something more fixed, an unchanging way of remembering, not just the particulars of something, but the particular feeling you felt at that time. In that way I think nostalgia can hold you back, by not letting memory bend to imagination.
WO: What one piece of advice would you give an aspiring writer?
RR: Read widely. Learn to write the old-fashioned way, with practice and revision and completing a story from beginning to finish, just for yourself and not necessarily to show to others.
WO: Can you tell us anything about future projects?
RR: I’m at work on a novel at the moment. That’s all I can say about it!
WO: Lastly, if you could choose one fictional animal to be a companion, who would it be and why?
RR: Aragorn’s horse, Roheryn, from The Lord Of The Rings. The name means ‘horse of the lady.’ It is a gift to Aragorn from Arwen. He’s a brave and beautiful horse.
You can find out more about Ruthvika Rao on her website www.ruthvikarao.com and connect with her on Instagram:@ruthvikarao. ‘The Fertile Earth’ is available to buy from Amazon.
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Issue 30, featuring Gillian McAllister is out now. You will find it in libraries and other outlets. Alternatively, all current and previous editions can be found on our magazines page here.
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