Crossword Book Award: Winners, Nomination Process, History

An Indian book award known as the Crossword Book Award is presented by Crossword Bookstores and their sponsors. In order to compete with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, or The Pulitzer Prize, Indian book seller Crossword established the Award in 1998.

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How Crossword Bookstore Awards were Started - History

According to the Crossword Bookstore’s website, “Although some Indian authors have received honours abroad, we saw that India lacked a comparable accolade. In order to encourage and promote quality Indian writing, we consequently made the decision to launch the Book Awards in 1998. It is the only award in India that actively promotes authors and their works in addition to recognising and rewarding excellent writing.”

The prize was initially given to an Indian citizen for a single piece of fiction. An additional award was given in 2000 for an Indian composition that has been translated into English from any Indian language. Between 2001 and 2003, no award was given. The Hutch Crossword Book Award was first given out in 2004, and it was sponsored by the Indian telecommunications firm Hutch Essar.

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Beginning in 2006, new nonfiction prize categories and popular award categories that were decided by the general audience were added. Hutch Essar was acquired by the English telecom giant Vodafone Group in 2008, and the prize was renamed the Vodafone Crossword Book Award. It was sponsored by The Economist Crossword Book Award and called the Economist from 2011 to 2013 in collaboration with Principal Mutual Funds and Standard Chartered. Beginning in 2014, it was sponsored by the Raymond Group.

How to get Nominated for Crossword Book Award.

Crossword sales data are used to choose nominations, and a combination of online and offline public vote determines the actual winners (voting at Crossword outlets). As of 2018, the prizes are 300,000 (or $3,000) for recipients of the jury award and 100,000 (or $1,500) for recipients of the people’s choice award.

Crossword Book Award Winners 2020

Twinkle Khanna’s fiction novel ‘Pyjamas are Forgiving’ has won the Crossword Book Award (Popular) for Fiction in 2020. The official biography of composer A.R. Rahman written by Krishna Trilok, “Notes of a Dream,” won the Crossword Book Award (Popular) for Biography.

The popular non-fiction award went to “Life’s Amazing Secrets: How to Find Balance and Purpose” by Gaur Gopal Das, while the jury award in the non-fiction category was given to Shanta Gokhale’s “One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body.”

The book “Machher Jhol: Fish Curry” by Richa Jha and Sumanta Dey Illustrator won the prize for children’s literature. Jha remarked in accepting the honour that “our labour builds the readers of future.” The Upside-Down King: Odd Tales about Rama and Krishna, a children’s book by Sudha Murty, also took first place.

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Author Madhuri Vijay presented “The Far Field” with the Crossword prize for fiction. Additionally, this work was awarded the 2019 JCB Prize for Literature.

The thought-provoking book “Diary of a Malayali Madman” by Jayasree Kalathil and N. Prabhakaran won the Crossword Book Award in the translation category.

Dr. Jaishree Sharad’s book “Skin Rules: Your 6-week Plan to Radiant Skin” won the category for health and fitness, and Anju Sharma’s book “Corporate Monk, A Journey From Wealth To Wisdom” won the category for business and management. Sharma is a member of the IAS and is presently employed in Gujarat.

Pyjamas are Forgiving - Twinkle Khanna - Crossword bookstore prize winner

Madhuri Vijay The Far Field Crossword Bookstore prize winner

Krishna Trilok Notes of a Dream Crossword Bookstore Prize Award

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The Crossword Book Awards are a platform that, in addition to honouring excellent writing, attempts to give Indian authors and books a springboard to promote themselves.

The goal of Crossword Bookstores is to consistently present opportunities for customers to interact with a variety of literature that suits their reading preferences. They provide a platform for writers, both new and seasoned, to express themselves and advance the use of literature as a method of self-expression.

BlueRose Publishers, too, have an award called BlueRose Awards for the authors who publish with us. Regardless of their genre, language, or geographic location, the prize aspires to recognise significant literary luminaries in the world of literature. The goal of the BlueRose Book Awards is to honour authors who have consistently worked to improve society.

The goal of BlueRoseONE is to bring together under one roof the many true stories of well-known and up-and-coming authors. This area will provide readers and writers with a platform to explain and investigate the various shades of an author’s journey.