Crossword Book Award
| Crossword Book Award | |
|---|---|
| Sponsored by |
Crossword Bookstores Raymond Group |
| Country | India |
| Hosted by | Crossword Bookstores |
| Reward(s) | ₹300,000 |
| First awarded | 1998 |
| Official website | crossword_book_award |
The Crossword Book Award (in full: Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Book Award (2014–present))[1] is an Indian book award hosted by Crossword Bookstores and their sponsors.[2] The Award was instituted in 1998 by Indian book retailer Crossword with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize or The Pulitzer Prize.
- While several Indian writers have won awards abroad, we had observed that there was no equivalent award in India. We therefore decided to take on the role of encouraging and promoting good Indian writing and instituted the Book Awards, in 1998. It is the only Indian award that not only recognizes and rewards good writing but also actively promotes the authors and their books.[3]
Nominations are on the basis of sales as tracked by Crossword, and the eventual winners are chosen based on a public poll that's partly online and partly real world (voting at Crossword outlets).[4] The awards consist of a cash prize of ₹300,000 ({{currency}} – invalid amount (help)), or about US$5,000, awarded in each of four categories.[2]
The award was initially for a single work of fiction by an Indian citizen. In 2000, an additional prize was offered for an Indian writing in any Indian language translated into English. There was no award between 2001–03. Starting in 2004 the award was sponsored by Hutch Essar an Indian telecommunications company and called the Hutch Crossword Book Award. Starting in 2006 additional categories of a nonfiction prize and a popular award, voted on by the public, were added. Starting in 2008, Hutch Essar was purchased by English telecommunications company Vodafone Group and the award was called Vodafone Crossword Book Award. Beginning in 2011 through 2013, it was sponsored by The Economist in association with Principal Mutual Funds and Standard Chartered, and renamed the Economist Crossword Book Award.[2] Beginning in 2014, it was sponsored by Raymond Group.[5]
Winners
Previous winners.[2]
1998
- English Fiction: The Everest Hotel by I. Allan Sealy
1999
- English Fiction: An Equal Music by Vikram Seth
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: On the Banks of the Mayyazhi by M. Mukundan
2000
- English Fiction: The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes by Jamyang Norbu
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Karukku by Bama / translator Lakshmi Holmström
2004
- English Fiction: The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Astride the Wheel (Yantrarudha) by Chandrasekhar Rath translated by Jatindra Kumar Nayak
2005
Awarded in 2006 for books published in 2005. Last year known as the Hutch Crossword Book Award. Inaugural year of Non Fiction and Popular Award categories.
- English Fiction: Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
- English Non Fiction: Maximum City: Bombay Lost & Found by Suketu Mehta
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: The Heart Has Its Reasons by Krishna Sobti
- Popular Award: Pundits From Pakistan by Rahul Bhattacharya
2006
Awarded in 2007 for books published in 2006. Name change to Vodafone Crossword Book Award.
- English Fiction: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
- English Non Fiction: Two Lives by Vikram Seth
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: In a forest, a deer by C. S. Lakshmi (Ambai) / translator Lakshmi Holmström
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Kesavan's Lamentations by M. Mukundan
- Popular Award: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
2007
Awarded in 2008 for books published in 2007.
- English Fiction: A Girl and a River by Usha K. R.
- English Non Fiction: The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Chowringhee by Sankar / translator Arunava Sinha
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Govardhan's Travels by Anand (C. P. Sachidanandan) / translator Gita Krishnankutty
- Popular Award: The Music Room by Namita Devidayal
2008
Awarded in 2009 for books published in 2008.[6]
- English Fiction: Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
- English Fiction: Past Continuous by Neel Mukherjee
- English Non Fiction: Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: T’TA Professor by Manohar Shyam Joshi / translator Ira Pande
- Popular Award: Smoke & Mirrors by Pallavi Aiyar
2009
Awarded in 2010 for books published in 2009.[7] Inaugural year of Children's category.
- English Fiction: Venus Crossing: Twelve Stories of Transit by Kalpana Swaminathan
- English Non Fiction: Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by Rajni Bakshi
- English Non Fiction: Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray (about Lee Kuan Yew)
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side by Sarah Joseph / translator Valson Thampu
- Popular Award: Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by Rajni Bakshi
- Children's Literature: The Grasshopper's Run by Siddhartha Sarma
2010
Awarded in 2011 for books published in 2010. The longlist was announced in May,[8] the shortlist in July[9] and the winners on September 2, 2011.[10]
- English Fiction: Jimmy the Terrorist, Omair Ahmad
- English Fiction: Saraswati Park, Anjali Joseph
- English Non Fiction: The Tell-Tale Brain, VS Ramachandran
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Litanies of Dutch Battery, NS Madhavan / translated by Rajesh Rajamohan
- Popular Award: Chanakya's Chant, Ashwin Sanghi
- Children's Literature: Faces in the Water, Ranjit Lal
2011
Awarded in 2012 for books published in 2011. The longlist was announced June,[11] the shortlist was announced in September 2012.[12] The winner was announced October 18, 2012.[13][14]
- English Non Fiction: The Folded Earth, Anuradha Roy
- English Non Fiction: A Free Man, Aman Sethi
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: 17, Anita Agnihotri / translated by Arunava Sinha (Bengali)
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: The Araya Women, Narayan[15] / translated by Catherine Thankamma (Malayalam)
- Popular Award: The Incredible Banker, Ravi Subramanian
- Children's Literature: (no award – "the jury felt that the none of the books in question stood out")[14]
2012
Award renumbered to reflect the year of the award ceremony, previously it was the year the books were published.
2013
Awarded in 2013 for books published between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013.[16] The longlist was announced in June.[17] The shortlist was announced in November.[18] The winner was announced December 6, 2013 at the Times Literary Carnival.[19]
- English Fiction: Jerry Pinto, Em and The Big Hoom
- English Fiction: Janice Pariat, Boats on Land
- English Nonfiction: Ananya Vajpeyi, Righteous Republic
- English Nonfiction: Pankaj Mishra, From The Ruins Of Empire
- Indian Language Translation: Ismat Chugtai, A Life In Words translated by M Asaduddin
- Popular Award: Ravi Subramanian, The Bankster
- Children's Literature: Payal Kapadia, Wisha Wozzariter
- Children's Literature: Uma Krishnaswami, Book Uncle and Me
2015
The 2015 shortlists were announced in April 2015.[5] The winners were announced April 29, 2015.[20]
- Indian Fiction: The Blind Lady’s Descendants, Anees Salim
- Indian Non-Fiction: This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War, Samanth Subramanian
- Indian Language Translation: Children, Women, Men, Sundara Ramaswamy, Translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom
- Popular Award: Bankerupt, Ravi Subramanian
- Kotak Junior Children writing award: Timmi in Tangles, Shals Mahajan Duckbill
2016
The winners were announced 29 November 2016.[21]
Notes
- ↑ Vodafone Crossword Book Award at Encyclopedia Britannica.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Economist Crossword Book Award". Crossword. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
- ↑ "Vodafone Crossword Book Award". Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
- ↑ Peter Griffin (September 12, 2012). "Of book prizes and short-lists". Forbes India. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- 1 2 "Raymond Crossword Book Award 2014– Shortlist Announced". India Infoline News Service. April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Amitav Ghosh, Neel Mukherjee win Vodafone-Crossword award", Thaindian News, July 23, 2009
- ↑ "Mumbaikar brings home fiction award", The Times of India, August 21, 2010
- ↑ Longlist for Vodafone Crossword Book Award, The Asia Writes Project, May 8, 2011
- ↑ "Shortlist 2011". Crossword.in. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ↑ "Vodafone Crossword book awards 2010 announced", IBN Live, Sep 3
- ↑ "The Economist Crossword Award's longlist". CNN-IBN. June 12, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ↑ "The Economist Crossword Book Award 2011 shortlist announced". CNN-IBN. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ↑ "The Hindu's Aman Sethi bags award for A Free Man". The Hindu. Chennai, India. October 19, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- 1 2 Shruti Dhapola (October 19, 2012). "Anuradha Roy, Aman Sethi win at Economist-Crossword awards". Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ↑ Pramod K. Nayar (April 3, 2011). "Cultures in Transformation". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ "The Crossword Book Award Enters its 12th Year" (Press release). Crossword. May 8, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossword Book Awards: All the eligible titles". IBN Live. June 26, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ↑ "Crossword Book Award 2013 – Shortlist Announced". IBN Live. November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ↑ "'Popular choice' ruled at book awards". Times of India. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
- ↑ Zafar Anjum (April 29, 2015). "India: Raymond Crossword Book Award 2014 winners announced". kitaab.org. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Amish Tripathi, Amitav Ghosh, Ruskin Bond, Radhakrishnan Pillai, Twinkle Khanna win big at the 14th Raymond Crossword Book Award". The Hans India. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
External links
- Crossword Book Award, official website