Devangana Dash wins the 10th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize
11 books make it to the longlist of the 3rd Edition of
Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize
New Delhi, 4th April 2025: Oxford Bookstores announcedDevangana Dash as the winner of the 10th edition of Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize at a celebratory event held at the gorgeous lawns of the India Habitat Centre.
Dash was awarded for her exceptional cover design of Conversations with Aurangzeb published by Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins and authored by Charu Nivedita, translated from Tamil by Nandini Krishnan.
The winner was felicitated with a trophy, a certificate and a cash prize of 1 Lakh Indian Rupees by a distinguished panel that included Dr. Alka Pande, Museum curator, art historian, author and jury chair; Dr. Shashi Tharoor, author and Member of Parliament; H.E Ms. May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of Norway to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, Ms. Anja Riedeberger, Director Information Services South Asia Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan; Mr. Samar Jodha, Installation Artist, Mentor, and TED speaker and Mr. Swagat Sengupta, CEO, Apeejay Oxford Bookstores, in the presence of designers, publishers, artists and literary enthusiasts from the industry.
Speaking at the ceremony, Devangana Dash, the winner of the 10th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize said, “Thank you to the 10th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Prize and its distinguished jury for this incredible honor and opportunity. I extend my congratulations to the award committee for sustaining a space that celebrates good book design and ensures continued conversations around the visual language of books. Over the years, four of my book designs have been longlisted for this prestigious award, and it is truly exciting to receive this recognition for this remarkable title. In a world inundated with visuals—where a single prompt can generate an image—the recognition of design and literary processes reaffirms the importance of dialogue, debate, rejection, and the serendipitous victories that shape creative work. Book covers are often judged instantly but rarely understood or engaged with. More power to initiatives like this that celebrate the craft of bookmaking and bring visibility to the design process. I am grateful to my publisher, HarperCollins India, for this exciting opportunity and trusting me with their books over the years”.
In addition to the winning cover, two other designers were recognized by the juryfor their remarkable command of graphics and visual narratives. These designers include Samar Bansal for the book, ‘Feathers, Fools and Farts’ published by Puffin- an imprint of Penguin Random House; and Sharanya Kunnath for ‘Epicurious’ published by Hachette India Children’s Books.
Announcing the winner of the 10th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, Jury Chair, Dr. Alka Pande remarked, “I am truly delighted and impressed by the remarkable breadth, diversity and boundless creativity displayed by Indian designers. Their ability to weave together storytelling, innovation, aesthetics and visual appeal is nothing short of extraordinary. The sheer range of artistic expressions, from the intricately detailed to the boldly experimental, reaffirms the vibrancy of India’s design landscape. It is an absolute privilege to witness such imaginative brilliance and to celebrate the visionaries who continue to redefine the boundaries of the publishing industry in India”.
The evening also witnessed the announcement of the longlist for the third Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize. Dr. Alka Pande, Jury chair, museum curator, art historian and author; H.E Ms. May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of Norway to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan; and Ms. Sunaina Anand, Founder and Director, Art Alive Gallery, unveiled the 11-longlisted book titles. These books were recognised for their artistic composition and overall design by the esteemed jury panel.
Instituted in collaboration with Visual Arts Gallery in 2022, the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize is India’s only prize that recognizes the value of art in all genres under the umbrella of an art publication. The jury for the third edition of Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize includes Ambassador of Norway to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, H.E Ms. May-Elin Stener; Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group and the creative force behind Oxford Bookstores, Ms. Priti Paul; Museum curator, art historian, author and jury chair, Dr. Alka Pande; Director General, Bihar Museum, Mr. Anjani Kumar Singh; Founder and Director, Art Alive Gallery, Ms. Sunaina Anand and Director, Institutional Affairs and Outreach, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Ms. Apurva Kackar.
OXFORD BOOKSTORE ART BOOK PRIZE 2025 LONGLIST
Title- Colours of Devotion: The Legendary Paintings and Textiles of Vallabha Sampradaya 1500-1900
Publisher- Niyogi Books
Author/ Artist- Anita Bharat Shah
Title- Baby Knows Best
Publisher- HarperCollins
Author/ Artist- Shilarna Vaze
Title- F.N. Souza: The Archetypal Artist
Publisher- Niyogi Books
Author/ Artist- Janeita Singh
Title- Meditations on Trees
Publisher- Aleph Book Company
Author/ Artist- Ompal Sansanwal
Title- One Pot
Publisher- Delhi Blue Pottery Trust
Author/ Artist- Kavita Chopra Dikshit
Title- Whose Ramayana Is It Anyway?
Publisher- Mapin Publishing
Author/ Artist- Natasha Sarkar
Title- A Thousand Shadows
Self-Published
Author/ Artist- Navin Sakhuja
Title- Kali: Reverence & Rebellion
Publisher- DAG
Author/ Artist- Gayatri Sinha
Title- Delhi Durbar: Empire, Display and the Possession
Publisher- DAG
Author/ Artist- Swapna Liddle & Rana Safvi
Title- The Babu & the Bazaar: Art from 19th and Early 20th Century Bengal
Publisher- DAG
Author/ Artist- Aditi Nath Sarkar with Shatadeep
Title- Raza: The Other Modern
Publisher- Mapin Publishing
Author/ Artist- Geeti Sen, Gayatri Sinha, Yashodhara Dalmia and Ashok Vajpeyi
Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize is a first-of-its-kind honour for splendour in book design, and an endeavour by an iconic bookstore to perceive and empower the phenomenal work of artists, designers and distributors crosswise over India. The prize acknowledges the significance of the adjust of illustrations and story, especially in our undeniably visual age, and trusts that a book cover translates and interprets the resulting content in critical ways that add to its definitive achievement. Under the guidance of Ms. Priti Paul, Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, Oxford Bookstores has been pushing all boundaries to encourage the publishing industry and celebrate the business of books. Standout cover design is an integral part of the success of a book, designers and illustrators play a vital role in helping a book become emblematic and create recall. The jury for the tenth edition of Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize comprises of author and Member of Parliament, Dr. Shashi Tharoor; author, columnist and novelist, Shobhaa De; author and academic, Dr. Kunal Basu; Museum curator, art historian, author and jury chair, Dr. Alka Pande; Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group and the creative force behind the Oxford Bookstore chain, Priti Paul and Guest Jurors, Installation Artist, Mentor, and TED speaker, Mr. Samar Jodha and Director Information Services South Asia Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, Ms. Anja Riedeberger.
Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize is India’s only prize that recognises the value of art in all genres under the umbrella of the art publication. The Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize is an innovative collaboration between Oxford Bookstores and the Visual Arts Gallery, celebrating the best in art publications published in English language. The collaboration between the two institutes underscores the importance of their commitment to advance the print practice in the field of arts. Significantly, the Art Book Prize actively recognizes the contribution the book has made to the large discourse on art and culture. The Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize is an open invitation for publishers, academics who research art and culture, collectives and independent artists based in India who are involved from the conceptualization stage through the production stage of various forms of art publications. An illustrious panel of experts would be looking for original concepts, critical thinking, and novel approaches for identifying and recognising talents who contribute to the popularisation of art publishing in India and beyond.
