The shortlist for the award will be unveiled at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) in January 2023.
The longlist for the eighth edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize was announced at The Park in New Delhi by the prize’s esteemed jurors. The diverse interests of eminent jurors Priti Paul, Shobhaa De, Dr. Kunal Basu, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, and Dr. Alka Pande contributed to the selection of the longlist from among 600+ eligible entries received for the eighth Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize.
Over the last seven editions, the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize has evolved and gained towering success and enormous popularity as the most prestigious book cover design award in the publishing industry. The longlist announcement of the eighth edition was aligned with the celebration of the 100 glorious years of Oxford Bookstore. This remarkable evening witnessed a delightful dance performance by renowned Kathak dancer, Leena Malakar and her disciple Swarnali Nag.
Celebrating the announcement of the longlist of Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023, Priti Paul, Prize Jury member and Director Apeejay Surrendra Group said,“Resilience, Innovation, and Creativity in the recent times of turmoil and lockdown, are strikingly apparent in this year’s longlist of excellent book covers reiterating that artistic expression constantly evolves in times of crises. It has been very exciting, indeed, to encounter so much style and substance in the outstanding entries. The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is a significant initiative to support and encourage the art of Book Cover Design., and help take it to the next level.”
Dr. Alka Pande, author, academician, and well-known museum curatorannounced and unveiled the21 longlisted book covers at the occasion in the presence of a divergent mix of publishers, designers, authors, and literary enthusiasts from across India.
“As we move into our 8th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize it is a pleasure to see the added diversity of the book covers, and the increasing energy and creativity going into the making of book covers. It has been quite exhilarating, indeed, to encounter so much style, aesthetics, and substance in the outstanding entries received this year.” Says Chair of Duty Dr. Alka Pande
Jury member, well-known Indian politician, writer, and Member of Parliament Dr. Shashi Tharoor, congratulated the designers and publishers through a video message.
Here is the longlist of 21 books:
- Birdwatching, Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company, cover design by Bena Sareen
- The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder, DC Books, cover design by Leeza John
- Shakti: An Exploration of the Divine Feminine, Nilima Chitgopekar, Dorling Kindersley India, cover design by Priyanka Thakur
- Boys Don’t Cry, Meghna Pant, Ebury Publishing, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah
- The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, Indu Menon, translated from the Malayalam by Nandakumar K, Eka, cover design by Bhavya/Saurabh Garge
- The Illuminated, Anindita Ghose, FourthEstate, cover design by Bonita Vaz-Shimray
- Gods, Giants and Geography of India, Nalini Ramachandran, Hachette India Children’s Books, cover design by Sharanya Kunnath
- Onam in a Nightie: Stories from a Kerala Quarantine, Anjana Menon, HarperCollins, cover design by Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal
- Who’s Not Afraid of Z? Not Me! Lubaina Bandukwala, HarperCollins Children’s Books, cover design by Allen Shaw
- Onyoder Jiban, Neel Mukherjee, translated from the English into Bengali by Suchismita Ghosh, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Trinankur Banerjee
- Pebble Monkey, Manindra Gupta, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Paramita Brahmachari
- Kankabati Kalpabigyan Lekheni, edited by Yashodhora Raychaudhuri, Ankita and Dip Ghosh, Kalpabiswa Publications, cover design by Ujjwal Ghosh
- Metronama: Scenes from the Delhi Metro, Rashmi Sadana, Roli Books, cover design by Shikhar Gaur
- India: A Story Through 100 Objects, Vidya Dehejia, Roli Books, cover design by Sneha Pamneja
- Motherland: Pushpamala N’s Woman and Nation, Monica Juneja and Sumathi Ramaswamy, Lustre, cover design by Advaita Vats
- Growing up Jewish: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, Ori Z Soltes, Niyogi Books, cover design by Misha Oberoi
- How the Earth Got its Beauty, Sudha Murty, Puffin, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah and Devangana Dash and cover illustration by Priyanka Pachpande
- Tirahe Par Teen, Rajni Gupt, Rajpal & Sons, cover design by Archana Jain
- A Paradox of Dreams, Harshali Singh, Readomania Publishing, cover design by Sourish Mitra
- Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses, Pranay Lal, Viking, cover design by Ahlawat Gunjan
- The Muslim Vanishes, Saeed Naqvi, Vintage, cover design by Antra
The shortlist for the award will be unveiled at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival in January 2023 and the winner will be announced in Delhi a few weeks later.
