The wide-ranging interests of eminent jurors Priti Paul, Shobhaa De, Dr. Kunal Basu, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Dr. Alka Pande along with the guest jurors Emmanuel Lebrun- Damiens and Anja Riedeberger helped to create a rich and diverse perspective for the selection of the longlist from amongst 350 plus eligible entries received for the ninth Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize. 23 titles across distinct genres and themes have been recognised for their cover design and illustration by the jury panel.

Over the last eight 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 ninth edition was aligned with a delightful Bharatanatyam performance titled, “Of Stories and Narratives” by renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and young SNA awardee, Arupa Lahiry. 

The shortlist for the award will be unveiled at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) in February 2024, while the winner will be announced in Delhi a few weeks later.

LONGLIST – NINTH OXFORD BOOKSTORE BOOK COVER PRIZE 

1. Nominated Book- A Fistful of Moonlight- Stories from Assam
Name of the Publisher- BEE Books
Name of the Designer- Subinoy Das
Name of the Author- Multiple Authors; Edited By Mitra Phukan, Arunava Sinha, Lucy Hannah

2. Nominated Book- All These Streets We've Known By Heart
Name of the Publisher- Red River
Name of the Designer- Siddharth Dasgupta
Name of the Author- Siddharth Dasgupta

3. Nominated Book- Amar Babar Bagan
Name of the Publisher- Jadavpur University Press
Name of the Designer- Trinankur Banerjee
Name of the Author- Paulina Chiziane

4. Name of the Book- Azad Nagar
Name of the Publisher- HarperCollins India
Name of the Designer- Saurav Das
Name of the Author- Laura T. Murphy

5. Name of the Book- Black River
Name of the Publisher- Context/ An Imprint of Westland Books
Name of the Designer- Neeti Banerji
Name of the Author- Nilanjana Roy

6. Name of the Book- C- A Novel
Name of the Publisher- Aleph Book Company
Name of the Designer- Bena Sareen
Name of the Author- Anupama Raju

7. Name of the Book- Famine Tales- A Graphic Anthology
Name of the Publisher- Jadavpur University Press
Name of the Designer- Debkumar Mitra
Name of the Author- Eds. Ayesha Mukherjee, Abhijit Gupta, Sujit Kumar Mandal, Shrutakirti Dutta

8. Name of the Book- For In Your Tongue, We Cannot Fit
Name of the Publisher- Context/ An Imprint of Westland Books
Name of the Designer- Saurabh Garge
Name of the Author- Shilpa Gupta/Salil Tripathi

9. Name of the Book- Hul! Hul! The Suppression of the Santal Rebellion in Bengal, 1855
Name of the Publisher- Bloomsbury Publishing
Name of the Designer- Akila Seshasayee
Name of the Author- Peter Stanley

10. Name of the Book- It’s Time to Rhyme- Poems for Kids of all Ages
Name of the Publisher- Aleph Book Company
Name of the Designer- Priya Kuriyan
Name of the Author- Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan

11. Name of the Book- Mystics and Sceptics
Name of the Publisher- Harper Non Fiction/ An Imprint of HarperCollins India
Name of the Designer- Bonita Vaz Shimray
Name of the Author- Namita Gokhale

12. Name of the Book- Niketche- Ekti bohubibaher kahini
Name of the Publisher- Jadavpur University Press
Name of the Designer- Paramita Brahmachari
Name of the Author- Paulina Chiziane

13. Name of the Book- Not Quite a Disaster After All
Name of the Publisher- Harper Fiction/ An Imprint of HarperCollins India
Name of the Designer- Amit Malhotra
Name of the Author- Buku Sarkar

14. Name of the Book- Spirit Nights
Name of the Publisher- Simon and Schuster India
Name of the Designer- Mridu Agarwal
Name of the Author- Easterine Kire

15. Name of the Book- Tails and Tales
Name of the Publisher- Puffin/ An Imprint of Penguin Random House
Name of the Designer- Isha Nagar
Name of the Author- Reeja Radhakrishnan

16. Name of the Book- The Adornment of Gods
Name of the Publisher- Westland Books
Name of the Designer- Saurabh Garge
Name of the Author- Devdutt Pattanaik

17. Name of the Book- The Great Indian Thali- Seasonal Vegetarian Wholesomeness
Name of the Publisher- Luster Press / An Imprint of Roli Books
Name of the Designer- Sneha Pamneja
Name of the Author- Nandita Iyer

18. Name of the Book- The King Who Turned into a Serpent
Name of the Publisher- Hachette India Children & Young Adult/ Hachette India
Name of the Designer- Sharanya Kunnath
Name of the Author- Sudha Madhavan

19. Name of the Book- The Living Mountain
Name of the Publisher- Harper Fourth Estate/ An Imprint of HarperCollins
Name of the Designer- Devangana Dash
Name of the Author- Amitav Ghosh

20. Name of the Book- The Penguin Book of Indian Poets
Name of the Publisher- Hamish Hamilton/ An Imprint of Penguin Random House
Name of the Designer- Ahlawat Gunjan
Name of the Author- Edited by Jeet Thayil

21. Name of the Book- Victory City
Name of the Publisher- Hamish Hamilton/ An Imprint of Penguin Random House
Name of the Designer- Ahlawat Gunjan
Name of the Author- Salman Rushdie

22. Name of the Book- When Indian Flowers Bloomed in Europe
Name of the Publisher- TAPI Collection/ An Imprint of Niyogi Books
Name of the Designer- Sashi Bhushan Prasad
Name of the Author- Ebeltje Hartkamp- Jonxis

23. Name of the Book- The Book Beautiful
Name of the Publisher- Hachette India Adult & Business/ An Imprint of Hachette India
Name of the Designer- Bhavi Mehta
Name of the Author- Pradeep Sebastian

About Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize

The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is a first-of-its-kind honour for splendour in book design, and an endeavour by an iconic bookstore to perceive and empower the phenomenal work of artists, designers and distributors crosswise over India. The new prize acknowledges the significance of the adjust of illustrations and story, especially in our undeniably visual age, and trusts that a book cover translates and interprets the resulting content in critical ways that add to its definitive achievement. Under the guidance of Ms. Priti Paul, Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Oxford Bookstores has been pushing all boundaries to encourage the publishing industry and celebrate the business of books. Standout cover design is an integral part of the success of a book, designers and illustrators play a vital role in helping a book become emblematic and create recall.

About Oxford Bookstore

Established in 1919, Oxford Bookstore is one of the oldest heritage bookstores in the nation. It is India’s only bookstore to curate multiple literary festivals like Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Apeejay Bangla Sahitya Utsob, and Hindi Sahitya Utsav. The Oxford Bookstore not only offers book lovers access to the very best books and ambience but also India’s first-of-its-kind tea boutique, Cha Bar. At Oxford Bookstores, success is measured by the smiles on millions of happy readers that the brand has served over the last 100 years. Each time you walk into our iconic store in Kolkata, its old-world charm leaves you enchanted and desiring for more. Our fleet of ‘happy to help’ knowledgeable booksellers and conversant hosts work round the clock to bring to our vendees world-class reading experience. Be it through our books or our fine teas we abide by the brand’s motto – Much more than a bookstore – at every Bookstore.