Vodafone Crossword Book Award
Encyclopedia
Vodafone Crossword Book Award (formerly Hutch-Crossword Book Award) is an Indian book award sponsored by Vodafone
and Crossword Bookstores
. It is India's biggest private sector award. The Award was instituted in 1998 with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize
or The Pulitzer Prize.
The award consists of a cash prize of Rs. three lakhs (300,000) and is awarded in four categories.
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
and Crossword Bookstores
Crossword Bookstores
Crossword Bookstores is a chain of bookstores in India based in Mumbai. Crossword has stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Nagpur, Nashik, Vadodara, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. The most recent outlet opened in Durgapur.Crossword is fully owned by Shopper's...
. It is India's biggest private sector award. The Award was instituted in 1998 with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
or The Pulitzer Prize.
- While several Indian writers have won awards abroad, we had observed that there was no equivalent award in India. We therefore decided to take on the role of encouraging and promoting good Indian writing and instituted the Book Awards, in 1998. It is the only Indian award that not only recognizes and rewards good writing but also actively promotes the authors and their books.
The award consists of a cash prize of Rs. three lakhs (300,000) and is awarded in four categories.
2010
Awarded in 2011 for books published in 2010. The longlist was announced in May, the shortlist in July and the winners on Sept 2nd, 2011.- English Fiction: Jimmy the Terrorist, Omair AhmadOmair AhmadOmair Ahmad is an Indian writer. His book Jimmy the Terrorist was shortlisted for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize.Omair Ahmad was born in Aligarh and his native town is Gorakhpur. He received his early education at international schools in Saudi Arabia and in Woodstock, Mussoorie India...
- English Fiction: Saraswati Park, Anjali Joseph
- English Non Fiction: The Tell-Tale BrainThe Tell-Tale BrainThe Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human is a 2010 nonfiction book by V. S. Ramachandran that explores, from a neurological viewpoint, various aspects of human perception and how they relate to appreciation of art, the development of language, and how perception and the...
, VS Ramachandran - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Litanies of Dutch Battery, NS Madhavan / translated by Rajesh Rajamohan
- Popular Award: Chanakya's ChantChanakya's ChantChanakya's Chant is a novel written by Indian author Ashwin Sanghi. Sanghi, a Yale University graduate, wrote the book two years after his first novel The Rozabal Line was released in India and became a national bestseller. Chanakya's Chant was released on January 26, 2011 and entered all major...
, Ashwin SanghiAshwin SanghiAshwin Sanghi is an Indian author of thriller fiction, best known for his 2007 novel, The Rozabal Line. Sanghi is interested in the lost years of Jesus, the primary theme of his first novel which hypothesizes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and traveled to India. The Rozabal Line was... - Children's Literature: Faces in the Water, Ranjit Lal
2009
Awarded in 2010 for books published in 2009. Inaugural year of Children's category.- English Fiction: Venus Crossing: Twelve Stories of Transit by Kalpana SwaminathanKalpana SwaminathanKalpana Swaminathan is an Indian writer from Mumbai. She also writes with Ishrat Syed as Kalpish Ratna. Swaminathan and Syed are both surgeons...
- English Non Fiction: Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by Rajni BakshiRajni BakshiRajni Bakshi is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist and author. She writes about social and political movements in contemporary India. Her journalism has appeared in many English and Hindi newspapers and magazines...
- English Non Fiction: Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India by Sunanda K. Datta-RaySunanda K. Datta-RaySunanda K. Datta-Ray has been a leading Indian newspaperman and journalist for half a century. He has been Editor of The Statesman and has also written for the International Herald Tribune and Time Magazine. He was Editor-in-Residence at the East-West Center in Honolulu. He was Editorial...
(about Lee Kuan YewLee Kuan YewLee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
) - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side by Sarah JosephSarah JosephSarah Joseph is CEO and Editor of magazine emel and commentator on British Muslims. She is a writer and a broadcaster and lectures on Islam both within the UK and internationally...
/ translator Valson ThampuValson ThampuRevd. Valson Thampu is an Indian educator, christian theologian, who is the present Principal of St Stephen's College, University of Delhi, Delhi, since 2008... - Popular Award: Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by Rajni Bakshi
- Children's Literature: The Grasshopper's Run by Siddhartha SarmaSiddhartha SarmaSiddhartha Sarma is an Indian English novelist and journalist from Assam.Sarma is the author of the young adult novel The Grasshopper's Run It has been set against the Second World War and is set in Assam and Nagaland and follows the friendship between a Naga and Assamese boy. It won the 2009...
2008
Awarded in 2009 for books published in 2008.- English Fiction: Sea of PoppiesSea of PoppiesSea of Poppies is a novel by Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008. It is the first volume of what will be the Ibis trilogy....
by Amitav GhoshAmitav GhoshAmitav Ghosh , is a Bengali Indian author best known for his work in the English language.-Life:Ghosh was born in Calcutta on July 11, 1956, to Lieutenant Colonel Shailendra Chandra Ghosh, a retired officer of the pre-independence Indian Army, and was educated at The Doon School; St... - English Fiction: Past Continuous by Neel Mukherjee
- English Non Fiction: Curfewed Nights by Basharat Peer
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: T’TA Professor by Manohar Shyam JoshiManohar Shyam JoshiManohar Shyam Joshi was a Hindi writer, journalist and scriptwriter, most well known as the writer of Indian television's first soap opera,Hum Log and its early hits Buniyaad , Kakaji Kahin, a political satire and Kyap, novel which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award.-Biography:Manohar Shyam...
/ translator Ira Pande - Popular Award: Smokes & Mirrors by Pallavi AiyarPallavi AiyarPallavi Aiyar is an Indian journalist and author. She is currently the Brussels correspondent for the Business Standard and was formerly China bureau chief for The Hindu.Aiyar has obtained a B.A in philosophy from St...
2007
Awarded in 2008 for books published in 2007.- English Fiction: A Girl and a River by Usha K. R.
- English Non Fiction: The Last MughalThe Last MughalThe Last Mughal, The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857 is a 2006 historical book by William Dalrymple.-Summary:The book, Dalrymple's sixth, won praise for its use of "The Mutiny Papers", which included previously ignored Indian accounts of the events of 1857...
by William Dalrymple - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Chowringhee by Sankar / translator Arunava Sinha
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: Govardhan's Travels by Anand C P Sachidanandan / translator Gita Krishnankutty
- Popular Award: The Music Room by Namita Devidayal
2006
Awarded in 2007 for books published in 2006. Name change to Vodafone Crossword Book Award.- English Fiction: Sacred GamesSacred Games (novel)Sacred Games is a book by Vikram Chandra published in 2006.It has received -Plot summary:Sacred Games combines the ambition of a 19th-century social novel with a cops-and-Bhais detective thriller...
by Vikram ChandraVikram ChandraVikram Chandra is an Indian writer. His first novel, Red Earth and Pouring Rain, won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best First Book.... - English Non Fiction: Two Lives by Vikram SethVikram SethVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.-Early life:Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta...
- Indian Language Fiction Translation: In a forest, a deer by C. S. LakshmiC. S. LakshmiC. S. Lakshmi is a Tamil feminist writer and independent researcher in women's studies from India. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai .-Personal life:...
(Ambai) / translator Lakshmi HolmströmLakshmi HolmströmLakshmi Holmström MBE is an Indian-born British writer, literary critic and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works have been her translations of short stories and novels of the contemporary writers in Tamil like Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami,... - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Kesavan's Lamentations by M. MukundanM. MukundanM. Mukundan is one of the pioneers of modernity in Malayalam literature, belonging to Mahe, part of Pondicherry Union Territory in South India. He was born on 10 September 1942 at Mayyazhi , a one-time French territory in India...
- Popular Award: The Inheritance of LossThe Inheritance of LossThe Inheritance of Loss is the second novel by Indian author Kiran Desai. It was first published in 2006. It won a number of awards, including the Man Booker Prize for that year, the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award in 2007, and the 2006 Vodafone Crossword Book Award.It was written over a...
by Kiran DesaiKiran DesaiKiran Desai is an Indian author who is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. Her novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award...
2005
Awarded in 2006 for books published in 2005. Last year known as the Hutch Crossword Book Award. Inaugural year of Non Fiction and Popular Award categories.- English Fiction: Shalimar the ClownShalimar the ClownShalimar the Clown is a 2005 novel written by Salman Rushdie, who also wrote The Satanic Verses and Midnight's Children.Shalimar the Clown was published in September 2005 and has attracted significant attention, comparable to his earlier publications, particularly The Moor's Last Sigh and...
by Salman Rushdie - English Non Fiction: Maximum City: Bombay Lost & FoundMaximum CityMaximum City: Bombay Lost and Found is a narrative nonfiction book by Suketu Mehta, published in 2004, about the Indian city of Mumbai . It was published in hardcover by Random House's Alfred A. Knopf imprint...
by Suketu MehtaSuketu MehtaSuketu Mehta is a writer based in New York City. He was born in Kolkata, India, and raised in Bombay where he lived until his family moved to the New York area in 1977. He has attended New York University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.His autobiographical account of his experiences... - Indian Language Fiction Translation: The Heart Has Its Reasons by Krishna SobtiKrishna SobtiKrishna Sobti is a Hindi fiction writer and essayist, who won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980 for her novel Zindaginama and in 1996, was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest award of the Akademi....
- Popular Award: Pundits From PakistanPundits From PakistanPundits From Pakistan is a book on cricket by Rahul Bhattacharya. It covers the Indian cricket team’s tour of Pakistan in the year 2004. While the book is largely about cricket, it also tells of how the tour had an impact that went far beyond sub-continental cricket in terms of the goodwill and...
by Rahul Bhattacharya
2004
- English Fiction: The Hungry TideThe Hungry TideThe Hungry Tide is the sixth novel by Indian-born author, Amitav Ghosh. It won the 2004 Hutch Crossword Book Award for Fiction.- Synopsis :...
by Amitav GhoshAmitav GhoshAmitav Ghosh , is a Bengali Indian author best known for his work in the English language.-Life:Ghosh was born in Calcutta on July 11, 1956, to Lieutenant Colonel Shailendra Chandra Ghosh, a retired officer of the pre-independence Indian Army, and was educated at The Doon School; St... - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Astride the Wheel (Yantrarudha) by Chandrasekhar Rath translated by Jatindra Kumar NayakJatindra Kumar NayakJatindra Kumar Nayak is a translator, literary critic, columnist, editor and educationalist from OrissaHe has translated several works of Oriya literature into English, including Yantrarudha, an Oriya language novel by Chandrasekhar Rath, as 'Astride the Wheel'...
2000
- English Fiction: The Mandala of Sherlock HolmesThe Mandala of Sherlock HolmesThe Mandala of Sherlock Holmes is a non-canonical Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Jamyang Norbu, originally published in India in 1999....
by Jamyang NorbuJamyang NorbuJamyang Norbu is a Tibetan political activist and writer, currently living in the United States, having previously lived for over 40 years as a Tibetan exile in India.-Biography:... - Indian Language Fiction Translation: Karukku by Bama / translator Lakshmi HolmströmLakshmi HolmströmLakshmi Holmström MBE is an Indian-born British writer, literary critic and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works have been her translations of short stories and novels of the contemporary writers in Tamil like Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami,...
1999
- English Fiction: An Equal MusicAn Equal Music-Plot:The plot concerns Michael, a professional violinist, who never forgot his love for Julia, a pianist he met as a student in Vienna. They meet again after a decade, and conduct a secret affair, though she is married and has one child...
by Vikram SethVikram SethVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.-Early life:Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta... - Indian Language Fiction Translation: On the Banks of the Mayyazhi by M. MukundanM. MukundanM. Mukundan is one of the pioneers of modernity in Malayalam literature, belonging to Mahe, part of Pondicherry Union Territory in South India. He was born on 10 September 1942 at Mayyazhi , a one-time French territory in India...