What is the most striking thing that you notice in a book? Apart from the author’s name or the title, most often it is the book cover. Book covers tend to have a hypnotic impact on the reader’s mind and tempt them to pick up books even if these are not on their ‘to be read’ list.
The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, the first of its kind initiated by the heritage Oxford Bookstore in 2015, acknowledges the efforts put in by the book cover designers, illustrators and artists to make the book covers a work of art.
Step by step, the endeavour has reached its eighth year in 2022. Publishers and individual designers can send in their entries by October 5, 2022, to be considered for this edition. Book covers designed by those of Indian origins and books published between April 2021 and March 2022 will qualify for the longlist selections. For further details on the Oxford bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023, click on www.oxfordbookstore.com.
Like every year, the jury consists of eminent personalities from the world of books. Shashi Tharoor, author and Member of Parliament; Shobhaa De, novelist and columnist; Kunal Basu, author and professor; Alka Pande, author, academician and museum curator and Priti Paul, director, Apeejay Surrendra Group would be selecting the long and short lists of the Prize.
Paul said, “The eighth edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize will reflect the ever-evolving art of book cover design, along with the outstanding style, substance, originality and aesthetics which have been its hallmark over the years. Greatest creative ideas can emerge at the most difficult times, and the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired several artistic breakthroughs. We look forward keenly to the choices of our eminent jury.”
Seven books have already received this prestigious award since its inception in 2015. The winners include Bena Sareen for Talking of Justice by Leila Seth (Aleph); Pinaki De for Kalkatta by Kunal Basu (Picador India); Maithili Doshi Aphale for Himalaya edited by Ruskin Bond and Namitha Gokhale (Speaking Tiger); Bonita Vaz Shimray for Remnants of a Separation by Aanchal Malhotra (Harper Collins); Sneha Pamneja for Tiffin (Roli Books); Gunjan Ahlawat for Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh (Hamish Hamilton) and Ishan Khosla for Kintsugi by Anukriti Upadhyay (Fourth Estate).
The longlist, shortlist and winner of the eighth edition will be declared through a series of events in Kolkata and New Delhi post October 2022.
