By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 29 Sep: The Valley of Words|Shabdavali announced today the winners of all eight categories of its Book Awards – celebrating the best of English Literature and Hindi Sahitya. TheVoW Book Awards 2023 is currently in its seventh edition as the most comprehensive independent literary award programme in India.
Over 600 nominations were received in 2023 from 70 publishing houses across the country. The selection of the books involved a three-stage process, and is indeed a tough call as the quality of submissions has become more competitive each year. The critically-acclaimed longlist of ten books per category was brought down to a final five in the shortlist.The final winners were selected through an ongoing process which began in August this year, with the VoW Secretariate and the Jury working in tandem, for each of the eight categories.
Commenting on the Book Awards, Festival Director Dr Sanjeev Chopra stated, ‘I take this opportunity to thank the distinguished Members of our Jury: Dr Rudranghsu Mukherjee (English Non-Fiction), Prof Satish Aikant (English Fiction), Pooja Marwah (Writings for Young Adults), Alka Saraogi (Hindi Non-Fiction), Neelakshi Singh (Hindi Fiction), Mamta Nainy (Writings for Children), Dr Anjan Ray (Translations to Hindi) and Ira Pande (Translations into English) for their painstaking efforts in reading all the books and giving their recommendations.” He added, “The VoW book Awards are an iconic offering in the sense that each of the selected books tells a story … of identity, of imagination , of aspiration , of times that have gone by, of issues that are contemporary, and of the future as well , including the world of Chat GPT.”
The VoW Book Award Winners for 2023 are…
ENGLISH FICTION
No Way Inby Udayan Mukherjee
(Bloomsbury)
ENGLISH NON-FICTION
The Journey of Hindi Language Journalism in India by Mrinal Pande
(Orient Black Swan Pvt Ltd)
HINDI FICTION
Shahar Se Das Kilometer by NeeleshRaghuwanshi
(Rajkamal Publications)
HINDI NON- FICTION
Dinank kay Bina by Ushakiran Khan
(Vani Publications)
WRITINGS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Children of the Hidden Land by Mandira Shah
(Speaking Tiger)
WRITINGS/PICTURE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Jhupli’s Honey Box by Achintyarup Ray
(Tulika Publishers)
TRANSLATION INTO HINDI
Bhaaga Hua Ladka Translated by Amrita Bera
(Westland)
TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH
The Bride: The Maithili Classic Kanyadan Translated by Lalit Kumar
(HarperCollins)
The Valley of Words community has extended warm congratulations to all the winners this year! The finale of the 7th Edition of Valley of Words|Shabdavali will be held on 16 and 17 December in Dehradun, as it celebrates the Word—and beyond.
