Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize Longlist announced

2. Memory Police, by Yoko Ogawa, designed by Leeza John (DC Books)

3. Shakti: An exploration of the Divine Feminine, by Nilima Chitgopekar, designed by Priyanka Thakur (Dorling Kindersley India)

4. Boys Don’t Cry, by Meghna Pant, designed by Akangksha Sarmah (Ebury Publishing)

5. The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, by Indu Menon, designed by Bhavya/Saurabh Garge (Eka)

6. The Illuminated: A Novel, by Anindita Ghose, designed by Bonita Vaz-Shimray (FourthEstate)

7. Gods, Giants and Geography of India, by Nalini Ramachandran, designed by Sharanya Kunnath (Hachette India Children’s Books)

8. Onam in a Nightie, by Anjana Menon, designed by Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal (HarperCollins)

9. Who’s Not Afraid of Z? Not Me! by Lubaina Bandukwala, designed by Allen Shaw (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

10. Onyoder Jiban, by Neel Mukherjee, designed by Trinankur Banerjee (Jadavpur University Press)

Longlist announcement by Chair of Jury, Dr Alka Pandey (Source: Oxford Bookstore)

11. Pebble Monkey, by Manindra Gupta, designed by Paramita Brahmachari (Jadavpur University Press)

12. Kankabati Kalpabigyan Lekheni, Edited by Yashodhora Raychaudhuri, Ankita and Dip Ghosh, designed by Ujjwal Ghosh (Kalpabiswa Publications)

13. Metronama: Scenes from the Delhi Metro, by Rashmi Sadana, designed by Shikhar Gaur (Lotus)

14. India: A Story Through 100 Objects, by Vidya Dehejia, designed by Sneha Pamneja (Lustre)

15. Motherland: Pushpamala N’s Woman and Nation, by Monica Juneja and Sumathi Ramaswamy, designed by Advaita Vats (Lustre)

16. Growing up Jewish: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, by Ori Z. Soltes, designed by Misha Oberoi (Niyogi Books)

17. How the Earth got its Beauty, by Sudha Murty, designed by Akangksha Sarmah and Devangana Dash, illustrated by Priyanka Pachpande (Puffin)

18. Tirahe Par Teen, by Rajni Gupt, designed by Archana Jain (Rajpal & Sons)

19. A Paradox of Dreams, by Harshali Singh, designed by Sourish Mitra (Readomania Publishing)

20. Invisible Empire, by Pranay Lal, designed by Ahlawat Gunjan (Viking)

21. The Muslim Vanishes, by Saeed Naqvi, designed by Antra (Vintage)

The Jury members include art curator and historian Alka Pande (chair), Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, columnist Shobhaa De, writer Kunal Basu and Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Oxford Bookstores, Priti Paul.

Performance by renowned Kathak dancer, Leena Malakar and her disciple Swarnali Nag (Source: Oxford Bookstore)

Pande attended the announcement at The Park hotel, Parliament Street, commenting on the difficulty of adjudging the award given the intense competiton, while Tharoor attended the event virtually, owing to a recent injury, and said, “I’ve been on the jury since the very start. I’m so pleased the Oxford book cover prize has grown in prominence. I hope you enjoy the longlist.”

Back in September, announcing the start of the prize’s entry period, Pande said, “This prize ensures to value creativity with due recognition to the designers, artists and illustrators. Book covers play an enormous role in defining the essence of the books.”

Paul said, “The eighth edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize will reflect the ever evolving art of book cover design, along with the outstanding style, substance, originality and aesthetics which have been its hallmark over the years.”

Previous winners of the prize include Maithili Doshi Aphale, for ‘Himalaya’, edited by Ruskin Bond and Namita Gokhale (Speaking Tiger) and Gunjan Ahlawat for ‘Gun Island’ by Amitav Ghosh (Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Random House).

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