Delhi-based book designer Bena Sareen, who has designed and art-directed over a thousand book covers over the last 26 years, was declared the winner of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2026. This is the second time Sareen has won the prize. Talking about her evolved practice between her first-winning cover, Talking of Justice, and now, My Beloved Life, she said: “With years of experience, I have not only been able to hone my skills but have also gained a deeper understanding of genres and the target audience. I have learnt to understand the author’s voice better and meet the expectations of publishers. I am very grateful to have always had supportive editors and publishers. David Davidar, who hired me at Penguin India and, later, at Aleph, always encouraged free thinking.”
Sareen is known for setting up the design department at Penguin India in 1999 and, later, at Aleph Book Company, Delhi, in 2011. In addition, she was the publisher for the art books imprint, Penguin Studio, and also, the Backlist Publisher at Penguin India. Her design language is eclectic and experimental.
“I have pushed myself towards cover solutions which were not necessarily my first instinct, and failed many times. And sometimes, it has led to the most exciting outcomes. With access to photographers, illustrators, and designers from around the world — from Bundi to Bogotá, if you will — through social media and the many platforms that showcase creative work, we have been able to forge diverse artistic collaborations and produce some truly outstanding book covers,” adds Sareen acknowledging the value of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize and how it has transformed the design landscape over the years.
A book cover is often a reader’s first encounter with a story. We asked her about her approach to My Beloved Life, written by Amitava Kumar and published by Aleph. What aspects of the novel did she feel had to be translated into the visual language of the cover?
“Fiction, by nature, lends itself to multiple interpretations. Just as a reader’s experience can be quite subjective, so is the designer’s engagement with the manuscript. As I read the novel, I developed a special affinity for Jadunath, one of the two protagonists. The period, early 1940s onwards, brought on a certain nostalgia for a time gone by. I picked on the post-card as a metaphor for a way of life — for memory, for migration; themes that reflect in the novel across the lives of the two protagonists,” said Sareen.
“The juxtaposing of the post-card with a modern rendering of the protagonist with bursts of colour is meant to convey a certain sweep of the novel. From the mundane to the promise of something more; from local to urban. In doing so, I hoped to reach out to a wider audience, across generations,” she added.
Striking a balance between interpretation and restraint is important when designing for literary fiction. How did Sareen, who currently runs an independent design studio in Delhi, manage that?
“A great fiction cover is one that evokes curiosity, builds a sense of intrigue by merely hinting at what lies beneath. At the same time, one has to be true to the content — to the period it is set in, to the characters, the voice of the author. I will pick on an element or two and strive to create the right mood with an appropriate typeface selection and colour palette. The interplay between these elements must evoke the desired sentiment to draw the reader in. At the end of the day, it is a subjective process, both the creation and the perception. Our ‘ways of seeing’ are varied. Editors’, authors’ and publishers’ inputs come together in achieving the right pitch,” she said.
We asked Sareen to share her insight and opinion on whether the role of cover design has changed in an era when books are increasingly discovered through digital thumbnails and social media feeds.
“A book cover must address multiple platforms today and work both in the physical form in all its tactile glory, and at a thumbnail size on screen. It’s challenging, and sometimes you have to abandon some details, keeping both mediums in mind. You have to grab eyeballs in a fleeting moment. Therefore, drawing attention to a single element first is a good idea. And then you direct the eye through the hierarchy established by your design. Sometimes it’s the title, at other times it is the author’s name, and sometimes it’s the visual (photograph or illustration) or simply the strategic use of space that draws the reader’s attention,” explained Sareen, who is working on some coffee-table books and experimenting with watercolours and still photography for an upcoming project.
Sareen signed off in a hopeful note, wishing that the design industry in India would move towards establishing an identity rooted less in Western trends and more towards a synthesis of global and Indian aesthetics.