On a breezy evening on February 10 at the 15th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) at Allen Park, Alka Pande, Priti Paul, Kunal Basu and Anja Riedeberger announced the seven shortlisted titles for the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2024 from a longlist of 23 declared in late January.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, they say. And in the last decade or so, with online buying making the look, touch and feel of a book irrelevant, book covers seemed to have paled into greater insignificance. However, with social media becoming more visually intense and innovative digital reading formats gaining ground, book covers are making an emphatic comeback. Speaking to My Kolkata, Alka Pande, museum curator and jury chairperson, said: “It’s interesting that there’s a greater effort at cover designing. Much more thought is going into it. And with visible, visually compelling results. I can tell you that it has been a tough process for the jury members [to select a shortlist]!”
For its ninth year, the awards panel, apart from Pande, consisted of Shashi Tharoor, author and Member of Parliament; Shobhaa De, author, columnist and novelist; Kunal Basu, author and academic; Priti Paul, director, Apeejay Surrendra Group and the creative force behind the Oxford Bookstore chain; and guest jurors such as Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens, director, Institut français India and counsellor for cooperation and cultural action, French Embassy in India; and Anja Riedeberger, director, information services, South Asia Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan.
‘The shortlist represents a remarkable array of creativity’
(L-R): Kunal Basu, Neeta Sreedharan and Alka Pande
More than 400 applications were received this year, almost double that of previous editions. A total of 350 submissions met the criteria and were handed over to the jury for discussion, debate and decision. Speaking of the experience, Pande said, “We were pleasantly surprised and really happy at the number and range of applications received. There were several solo applications. Digital publishing houses applied, as did regional language publishers in large numbers.”
Anja Riedeberger, joining online, remarked on the design aspects that struck her during the process. She said, “I’m impressed by the diverse and compelling selection of titles. The shortlist represents a remarkable array of creativity. There is a captivating range of style and themes – from haunting, vibrant illustrations to covers that have a minimalistic elegance to some that make bold statements through their design. All of them show not just unique artistic vision but also offer a strong gateway to the narratives that their books would cover.”
“The award should be called a ‘cover art’ prize rather than a ‘cover design’ prize,” said Kunal Basu
Kunal Basu, a juror for the last four editions, recounted how, in previous years, the book covers were quite predictable and primarily ornamental, leading to a certain sense of ennui. But Basu believes that the scenario has changed today. He said, “Now we have remarkable art on the cover. The award should be called a ‘cover art’ prize rather than a ‘cover design’ prize. The art is descriptive, metaphorical, often surreal. As someone who loves art and books, it really warms my heart to see such diversity.”
Priti Paul brought in the perspective of someone not just in the business of selling books but someone who buys books every single day. She said, “The collaboration and dialogue between author and artist is integral to the strength of the final cover. The winner of our second edition, Kalkatta, written by Kunal Basu and designed by Pinaki De, stands out as a fantastic example. At both ends of the spectrum, book covers are important. With stalwarts such as Amitav Ghosh or Namita Gokhale, the cover has to hold its own. In the case of emerging authors, the book cover design has to be compelling enough on its own to tell a story and make the buyer pick up the book from the shelf and buy it.”
‘As we go forward, authors will play a more active and engaged role in the design of their covers’
(L-R): Pinaki De, Harsho Mohan Chattoraj and Debkumar Mitra
Elaborating on the selection process, Pande explained: “All our jury members are quite opinionated, and rightly so. This was a stimulating intellectual process for all of us. I personally welcome the greater thought, greater creativity and greater Indian voice that I saw in the designs this year. It is here that the award plays such a significant role. Till now, the designer has been an invisible part, often the unsung hero. The award makes the invisible visible.”
The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is a first-of-its-kind honour for book design in India and an effort to empower the phenomenal work of artists, designers and distributors across the country. Pinaki De, the winner of the second edition of the prize, said: “Book covers have been recognised as marketing tools. This award recognises it as an art form, giving the industry and readers much more to look forward to.”
“As an author, I’m happy to see more designers working in tandem with their authors — there is greater sensitivity to and understanding of the text. Also, sometimes, authors don’t pay enough attention to the covers of their books. Designers receive a one-sentence brief, and do the best they can. I hope, as we go forward, authors will play a more active and engaged role in the design of their covers. Due credit should also go to publishers, who are taking greater interest in cover design. The results are out there on the shelves for all to see,” wrapped up Basu.
The session concluded with the unveiling of the shortlist for the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2024, detailed below:
- The Book Beautiful by Pradeep Sebastian; designed by Bhavi Mehta (Hachette India Adult & Business)
- The Penguin Book of Indian Poets edited by Jeet Thayil; designed by Ahlawat Gunjan (Hamish Hamilton)
- Azad Nagar by Laura T. Murphy; designed by Saurav Das (HarperCollins India)
- The Adornment of Gods by Devdutt Pattanaik; designed by Saurabh Garge (Westland)
- Not Quite a Disaster After All by Buku Sarkar; designed by Amit Malhotra (HarperCollins)
- When Indian Flowers Bloomed in Europe by Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis; designed by Sashi Bhushan Prasad (Niyogi Books India)
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Mystics and Sceptics by Namita Gokhale; designed by Bonita Vaz Shimray (HarperCollins India
The winner of the award will be announced in Delhi at the end of March and will receive a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
