Paramita Brahmachari emerges as winner of Eighth Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize

Kolkata: Paramita Brahmachari has emerged as the winner of the Eighth Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize.

Oxford Bookstore, the century old bookstore chain, has announced the winners of the First edition of Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize and the Eighth Edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize.

Paramita won the coveted award for the book jacket of ‘Pebble Monkey’ by Manindra Gupta, translated by Arunava Sinha and published by Jadavpur University Press.

Winner of the 8th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, Paramita Brahmachari said “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.”

Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize, India's only prize that recognizes the value of art in all genres under the umbrella of an art publication, instituted in collaboration with Visual Arts Gallery, announced “Scenography: An Indian Perspective” written by noted scenographer and director of contemporary Indian theatre, Satyabrata Rout, published by Niyogi Books as the winner of the First edition of Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize.

Winner Satyabrata 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."

Celebrated author and translator of Pebble Monkey, Arunava Sinha and Dr. Devalina Mookerjee, Development Editor at Jadavpur University Press accepted the award on behalf of Paramita Brahmachari, who could not attend the ceremony. Dr. Alka Pande, the jury chair and Swagat Sengupta, CEO of Apeejay Oxford Bookstores, presented Arunava Sinha with the trophy, certificate and a cash prize of 1 Lakh Indian Rupees as recognition.

In addition to the winning title, the jurors also appreciated “Inspired by India: How India Transformed Global Design” by Phyllida Jay and published by Roli Books. Satyabrata Rout, the author of the winning title and the publisher, Niyogi Books were felicitated with the trophy, certificate and 1 Lakh Indian Rupees cash prize by the Chair of Jury Dr. Alka Pande and Martine Aamdal Bottheim, Minister Counsellor & Deputy Head of Mission at Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi.

In addition to the winning jacket, three more designers were acknowledged by the jurors in appreciation of their remarkable command of graphics and visual narrative. These designers are Leeza John for “The Memory Police” published by DC Books; Bena Sareen for “Birdwatching: A Novel” published by Aleph Book Company and Ahlawat Gunjan for “Invisible Empire” published by Viking.

Announcing the winners for the prizes the Chair of Jury, Dr. Alka Pande 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”.

Celebrating the announcement of the winner of the 8th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize and the first Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize, 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 Bool 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.” (UNI)