It’s raining books and prizes. As Crossword announced the jury shortlist for the 17th edition of the prestigious Crossword Book Awards (CBA) on Thursday evening in Delhi’s Olive Bar and Kitchen, it seemed that promising literary voices never go unheard.
The jury for this year’s prize includes Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, Deepak Dalal, Namita Gokhale, Arshia Sattar, M Asauddin, Mukund Padmanabhan, Janice Pariat, Somak Ghoshal, Vivek Tejuja, Naresh Fernandes, Kaveree Bamzai and Rohan Murty. The award’s categories include Indian Fiction, Indian Non-Fiction and English Language Translation & Children’s Writing Award.
A few of the nominees for the Non-fiction shortlist are Modern South India: A History from the 17th Century to Our Times by Rajmohan Gandhi, One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body by Shanta Gokhale along with Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World by Ramachandra Guha. The nominees in the jury Shortlist for fiction category include The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, Ambiguity Machines, and Other Stories by Vandana Singh and Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale, among others.
While Diary of a Malayali Madman by Jayasree Kalathil (Author) and N Prabhakaran (Translator) and This Could Have Become Ramayan Chamar’s Tale: Two Anti-Novels by V Ramaswamy (Author) and Subimal Misra (Translator) are two of the five shortlists, children books such as A Cloud Called Bhura: Climate Champions to the Rescue by Bijal Vachharajani (Author) and Aindri C. (Illustrator) and All of Me by Venita Coelho are a couple of children’s books in this category.
Speaking at the announcement, Chiragh Oberoi, CEO, Crossword Bookstore, said, “The Crossword Book Awards not only recognises and rewards good writing, but also actively promotes Indian authors and their books. With each of the nominated writers being stalwarts in their own right, we hope that the coming edition, like its predecessors, reaches out to new audiences in India and abroad thereby expanding the Indian literary landscape.”
Also present at the occasion was Hemali Sodhi, Director, Crossword Book Award. She said, “The Crossword Book Awards have been the pioneers in recognising and celebrating the excellence and diversity in Indian writing. We are delighted that we have such a wonderful jury for this year’s awards and are immensely grateful to them for their passionate commitment in selecting the shortlist. We hope that the shortlist finds many more readers and encourages conversations around these books.”
Previously the award has been conferred on writers such as Shashi Tharoor, Ruskin Bond, Benyamin, among others. The results will be out on January 14, 2020.