Crossword Book Awards
- In full:
- Raymond Crossword Book Awards
- Formerly in full (1998–99):
- Crossword Book Award
- (2000–04):
- Crossword Book Awards
- (2004–08):
- Hutch Crossword Book Awards
- (2008–11):
- Vodafone Crossword Book Awards
- And (2011–13):
- The Economist Crossword Book Awards
- Related Topics:
- Indian literature
Crossword Book Awards, any of a series of Indian literary awards established in 1998 by Indian book retailer Crossword, its stated aim being to create a prize equivalent to Western literary accolades such as the Booker Prize and the Pulitzer Prize.
The Crossword was initially conceived as a single award for a work of fiction written in English by an Indian citizen. In 2000 it was expanded to include a prize for a work of fiction written in any Indian language and translated into English. Following a hiatus (2001–03), in 2004 the bookseller teamed with Hutchison Essar Limited (known as Hutch Essar), an Indian telecommunications company, and reintroduced the honour as the Hutch Crossword Book Award. From 2006 the award included an additional nonfiction prize and a popular award, voted on by the public. The award was known as the Vodafone Crossword Book Award from 2008, following the purchase of Hutchison Essar by English telecommunications giant Vodafone Group. A children’s book award was added in 2010. The 2011 prizes were awarded under the name The Economist Crossword Book Awards, which reflected a shift in sponsorship to the British magazine The Economist. The Raymond Group, a textiles company, sponsored it from 2014.
The awards included a monetary prize, and the winning books were promoted by Crossword. Each category was judged by a panel of writers and academics. Notable winners include Vikram Seth, Kiran Desai, and Salman Rushdie.
Winners of the Crossword Book Award are listed in the table.
| year | award | author | title of work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | fiction | I. Allan Sealy | The Everest Hotel: A Calendar |
| 1999 | fiction | Vikram Seth | An Equal Music |
| 1999 | translation | M. Mukundan; trans. by Gita Krishnankutty | On the Banks of the Mayyazhi (Mayyalippulayute tirannalil) |
| 2000 | fiction | Jamyang Norbu | The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of the Great Detective in India and Tibet |
| 2000 | translation | Bama; trans. by Lakshmi Holmström | Karukku |
| 2001–03 | no award | ||
| 2004 | fiction | Amitav Ghosh | The Hungry Tide |
| 2004 | translation | Chandrasekhar Rath; trans. by Jatindra Kumar Nayak | Astride the Wheel: Yantrarudha (Oriya) |
| 2005 | fiction | Salman Rushdie | Shalimar the Clown |
| 2005 | translation | Krishna Sobti; trans. by Reema Anand and Meenakshi Swami | The Heart Has Its Reasons (Dilo-danisha) |
| 2005 | nonfiction | Suketu Mehta | Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found |
| 2005 | popular | Rahul Bhattacharya | Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003–2004 |
| 2006 | fiction | Vikram Chandra | Sacred Games |
| 2006 | translation | M. Mukundan; trans. by A.J. Thomas | Kesavan's Lamentations (Keshavante vilapannal) |
| 2006 | translation | Ambai (pseudonym of C.S. Lakshmi); trans. by Lakshmi Holmström | In a Forest, a Deer (Kattil oru man) |
| 2006 | nonfiction | Vikram Seth | Two Lives |
| 2006 | popular | Kiran Desai | The Inheritance of Loss |
| 2007 | fiction | Usha K.R. | A Girl and a River |
| 2007 | translation | Sankar; trans. by Arunava Sinha | Chowringhee |
| 2007 | translation | Anand (pseudonym of P. Sachidanandan); trans. by Gita Krishnakutty | Govardhan's Travels (Govardhante yatrakal) |
| 2007 | nonfiction | William Dalrymple | The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 |
| 2007 | popular | Namita Devidayal | The Music Room: A Memoir |
| 2008 | fiction | Amitav Ghosh | Sea of Poppies |
| 2008 | fiction | Neel Mukherjee | Past Continuous |
| 2008 | translation | Manohar Shyam Joshi; trans. by Ira Pande | T'ta Professor (Ta-ta prophesara) |
| 2008 | nonfiction | Pallavi Aiyar | Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China |
| 2008 | nonfiction | Basharat Peer | Curfewed Night |
| 2009 | fiction | Kalpana Swaminathan | Venus Crossing: Twelve Stories of Transit |
| 2009 | translation | Sarah Joseph; trans. by Valson Thampu | Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side |
| 2009 | nonfiction | Rajni Bakshi | Bazaars, Conversations, and Freedom: For a Market Culture Beyond Greed and Fear |
| 2009 | nonfiction | Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew's Mission India |
| 2009 | popular | Rajni Bakshi | Bazaars, Conversations, and Freedom: For a Market Culture Beyond Greed and Fear |
| 2009 | children's | Siddhartha Sarma | The Grasshopper's Run |
| 2010 | fiction | Ohmair Ahmad | Jimmy the Terrorist |
| 2010 | fiction | Anjali Joseph | Saraswati Park |
| 2010 | translation | N.S. Madhavan; trans. by Rajesh Rajamohan | Litanies of Dutch Battery (Lantanbattēriyile luttiniyakal) |
| 2010 | nonfiction | V.S. Ramachandran | The Tell-Tale Brain: Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature |
| 2010 | popular | Ashwin Sanghi | Chanakya's Chant |
| 2010 | children's | Ranjit Lal | Faces in the Water |
| 2011 | fiction | Anuradha Roy | The Folded Earth |
| 2011 | translation | Anita Agnihotri; trans. by Arunava Sinha | 17 |
| 2011 | translation | Narayan; trans. by Catherine Thankamma | Kocharethi: The Araya Woman (Koccarētti) |
| 2011 | nonfiction | Aman Sethi | A Free Man: A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi |
| 2011 | popular | Ravi Subramanian | The Incredible Banker |
| 2012 | no award | ||
| 2013 | fiction | Janice Pariat | Boats on Land |
| 2013 | fiction | Jerry Pinto | Em and the Big Hoom |
| 2013 | translation | Ismat Chughati; trans. by M. Asaduddin | A Life in Words: Memoirs (Kaghazi hai Pairahan) |
| 2013 | nonfiction | Ananya Vajpeyi | Righteous Republic |
| 2013 | nonfiction | Pankaj Mishra | From the Ruins of Empire |
| 2013 | popular | Ravi Subramanian | The Bankster |
| 2013 | children's | Uma Krishnaswami | Book Uncle and Me |
| 2013 | children's | Payal Kapadia | Wisha Wozzariter |
| 2014 | fiction | Anees Salim | The Blind Lady's Descendants |
| 2014 | translation | Sundara Ramaswamy; trans. by Lakshmi Holmström | Children, Women, Men |
| 2014 | nonfiction | Samanth Subramanian | This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War |
| 2014 | popular | Ravi Subramanian | Bankerupt |
| 2014 | children's | Shals Mahajan | Timmi in Tangles |
| 2015 | fiction | Amitav Ghosh | Flood of Fire |
| 2015 | translation | Shamsur Rahman Faruqi | The Sun That Rose from the Earth |
| 2015 | nonfiction | Akshaya Mukul | Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India |
| 2015 | popular | Amish | Scion of Ikshvaku |
| 2015 | children's | Ranjit Lal | Our Nana Was a Nutcase |