Oxford Bookstore announced the winners of the eight edition of their Book Cover Prize and the first edition of their Art Book Prize at an event hosted at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on May 22, 2023. Paramita Brahmachari won the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023 for the book jacket of ‘Pebble Monkey’, while Satyabrata Rout won the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize 2023 for his book ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’.
Published by Jadavpur University Press, ‘Pebble Monkey’ is written by Manindra Gupta and translated by Arunava Sinha; it’s cover is designed by Paramita Brahmachari for which she won the Book Cover Prize 2023. Since Brahmachari couldn’t attend the event in person, the award was accepted on her behalf by Arunava Sinha and Dr. Devalina Mookerjee, Development Editor at Jadavpur University Press. Dr. Alka Pande- jury chair and Swagat Sengupta- CEO of Apeejay Oxford Bookstores, presented Arunava Sinha with the trophy, certificate and a cash prize of INR 1 Lakh as recognition.

On winning the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023, Brahmachari said in a video message, “I’m immensely thankful to Oxford Bookstore for having created and sustained this platform which focuses attention on the book as a tactile, visual object and especially for the visibility it has brought to a small press like the Jadavpur University Press, which works with very limited resources. I am delighted and very honoured to receive this award and to have been considered by such a distinguished panel of juries.”
The jury for the Book Cover Prize 2023 included: author-columnist Shobhaa De, author-politician Dr. Shashi Tharoor, author-academic Dr. Kunal Basu, Priti Paul- Director at Apeejay Surrendra Group, and Dr. Alka Pande- Museum Curator and Jury Chair. Apart from announcing the winner, three more designers were praised for their works by the jurors. They were: Leeza John for ‘The Memory Police’, Bena Sareen for ‘Birdwatching: A Novel’, and Ahlawat Gunjan for ‘Invisible Empire’.
Meanwhile, scenographer and director of contemporary Indian theatre, Satyabrata Rout won the first edition of Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize 2023 for his book ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’, which is published by Niyogi Books. Rout was his publisher at Niyogi Books were felicitated with a trophy, certificate and INR 1 Lakh by Dr. Alka Pande- Jury Chair, and Ms. Martine Aamdal Bottheim, Minister Counsellor & Deputy Head of Mission at Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Rout said, “The Oxford Bookstore Art Book Award brings a sense of confidence in me. Being a teacher and practitioner of theatre, I always felt a scarcity of books that help share these experiences with young minds. ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’ is the congregation of these experiences of working in theatre for more than forty years. I am thankful to Niyogi Books for bringing my writings to light and the Oxford Bookstore for considering this rare subject— ‘Scenography’ —for this prestigious award.”
The jury for the Art Book Prize included: former Ambassador of Brazil to India, H.E. André Corrêa do Lago; architect-artist Gautam Bhatia; painter Sanjay Bhattacharya; Director at Apeejay Surrendra Group- Priti Paul; and Museum Curator and Jury Chair- Dr. Alka Pande. The jurors also praised ‘Inspired by India: How India Transformed Global Design’ by Phyllida Jay, published by Roli Books, for their commendable work.
Announcing the winners, Dr. Alka Pande- Jury Chair said, “Oxford Bookstore has been a fore runner in instituting two significant awards. One for the book cover design and now the art book prize. The book cover design has come of age and is now encouraging the creative process behind the making of the book and now the art book prize is another first”.
While, Priti Paul, Director- Apeejay Surrendra Group, said, “We at Oxford Bookstore are delighted by the very appreciative and heart-warming response to our new initiative – the first Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize. Coming on the heels of the well-established 8th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, it reiterates our commitment to explore and contribute innovatively to various aspects of the Book Trade and Book Retail. We have instituted over a dozen festivals across several languages, seminars, conferences etc over the years, and it will be our continuing endeavour to contribute further”.