Crossword Book Award shortlist announced

Odisha Channel Bureau Mumbai, April 4: Raymond & Crossword in association with Principal Retirement Advisors, Club Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Runwal Group today announced the shortlist of the Crossword Book Award for fiction, non-fiction, translation and children’s categories.The shortlist is arrived by an esteemed panel of jury members in every category.Final winners will be announced on the award function to be held in Mumbai on April 28 at NCPA Tata Theatre at 7 pm.Raymond Crossword Book Award had also earlier released the shortlisted books for the popular award.Indian Fiction:• The Competent Authority by Shovon Chowdhury, Aleph• The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baske by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, Aleph• The Smoke is Rising by Mahesh Rao, Random House India• This Place by Amitabha Bagchi, Harper Collins• Odysseus Abroad by Amit Chaudhuri, Penguin Books India• The Blind Lady’s Descendants by Anees Salim, Westland Indian Non-Fiction• Capital by Rana Dasgupta, Harper Collins• A Southern Music by T.M.Krishna, Harper Collins• Filomena’s Journeys by Maria Aurora Couto , Aleph• Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir by Arun Ferreira, Aleph• Public Secrets of Law: Rape Trials in India by Pratiksha Baxi, Oxford University Press• This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War by Samanth Subramanian, Penguin Books IndiaIndian Language Translation:• Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar translated by Jerry Pinto, Penguin Books India• Children, Women, Men by Sundara Ramaswamy translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom, Penguin Books India• One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, Penguin Books India• The Mirror of Beauty by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Penguin Books India• A Dirge for the Dammed, by Vishwas Patil translated by Keerti Ramachandra, Hachette India• The Death of Sheherzad by Intizaar Hussain translated by Rakshanda Jalil, Harper Collins Children’s Writing:• Vanamala and the Cephalopod by Shalini Srinivasan, Duckbill• Timmi in Tangles by Shalini Mahajan, Duckbill• The Susu Pals by Richa Jha, SWPB• The Adventures of Skoob by Samit Basu, Rupa Publications• Flat-track Bullies by Balaji Venkataramanan, DuckbillPopular Award Nominations:• The Accidental Prime Minister by Sanjaya Baru, Penguin Books India• Sita by Devdutt Pattanaik, Penguin Books India• The Mahabharata Secret by Christopher Doyle, Om Books International• Bankerupt by Ravi Subramanian, Penguin Books India• Byculla To Bangkok by S Hussain Zaidi, Harper Collins India• My Journey:Transforming Dreams Into Action by Dr A.P.J Kalam, Rupa Publications India• Dilip Kumar – The Substance by Dilip Kumar, Hay House india• Like It Happened Yesterday by Ravinder Singh, Penguin Books India• Ajaya byAnand Neelkantan, Leadstart Publishing• Private India by Ashwin Sanghi, Random House India• House Of Cards by Sudha Murty, Penguin Books India• Gandhi Before India by Ramchandra Guha, Penguin Books India• Chanakya’s 7 Secrets Of Leadership by Radhakrishnan Pillai & D.Sivanandhan, Jaico Publishing• When Only Love Remains by Durjoy Datta, Penguin Books India According to a press release, this year The Crossword Book Award 2014 considered entries published in India from 1st April 2013 to 30th September 2014. This year only 6 entries per publisher per category were considered.Voting for the Popular Award closes on 26th April. About the AwardsCrossword Book Award is the only Indian award that recognizes and rewards good writing and also actively promotes Indian authors and their books.When the book awards were launched in 1998, there was one cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs for the best original work of fiction in English by an Indian author, and it was won by Allan Sealy for The Everest Hotel.In 1999, a new category was added Indian Language Fiction Translation into English and the cash prize was increased to 3 lakhs in each category.In 2005, two more award categories were added English Non-Fiction, as well as the Popular Award.In 2009 award for Indian Children’s writing was introduced thus making it the only Indian literary award that rewards authors across 5 different categories.Each award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a trophy and a citation.