Five categories feature ten longlisted books each for the upcoming Crossword Book Awards 2025.
The longlists for the 2025 Crossword Book Awards have been revealed, showcasing ten books in each of the five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Translation, Children’s, and Business and Management. This announcement sets the stage for the upcoming awards, with the shortlist scheduled to be disclosed in October. The culmination of this event will occur in December during a ceremony in Mumbai.
Each category of the awards is assessed by a distinct jury, ensuring a diverse and thorough evaluation process. The Fiction jury includes prominent figures such as Navtej Sarna, Sunil Sethi, and Vaishna Roy. Nonfiction works are judged by Satish Padmanabhan, Mandira Nayar, and Milan Vaishnav, while the Translation category is overseen by Poonam Saxena, S Prasannarajan, and Fathima EV. The Children’s books jury features Anita Nair, Deepak Dalal, and Deepa Agarwal, and Mitali Mukherjee, Sonu Bhasin, and Sruthijith KK are responsible for the Business and Management category.
A noteworthy aspect of this year’s awards is the Popular Awards component, where the shortlist will be announced on September 30. Readers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite books, contributing to the overall recognition of literary talent.
Among the titles longlisted for the Fiction category are “Golwalkar: The Myth Behind the Man, The Man Behind the Machine” by Dhirendra K Jha, published by Simon and Schuster India, and “Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace” by Sudeep Chakravarti, released by Aleph Book Company. Other notable entries include “Gods, Guns, and Missionaries: The Making Of The Modern Hindu Identity” by Manu S Pillai, published by Penguin Random House India, and “The Lucky Ones: A Memoir” by Zara Chowdhary from Westland.
In the Nonfiction category, titles like “Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism” by Ramachandra Guha from HarperCollins Publishers India and “Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar” by Anand Teltumbde, published by Penguin Random House India, stand out. The translation category features works such as “One and Three Quarters” by Shrikant Bojewar, translated from Marathi by Vikrant Pande, and “Mudritha” by Jissa Jose, translated from Malayalam by Jayashree Kalathil, both from Westland and HarperCollins respectively.
Children’s literature also sees a rich selection, with titles like “The School for Bad Girls” by Madhurima Vidyarthi from Duckbill and “Kushti Kid” by Vibha Batra from Scholastic India. The Business and Management category features influential works like “Ratan Tata: A Life” by Thomas Mathew, published by HarperCollins Publishers India, and “The Dirty Dozen: The Untold Stories of India’s Twelve Biggest Corporate Gangsters” by N Sundaresha Subramanian from PanMacmillan India.
The anticipation surrounding the Crossword Book Awards continues to build as the literary community looks forward to the shortlist announcement in October and the awards ceremony in December, celebrating the best in Indian literature.
