EditorThe Bangalore Literature Festival and Atta Galatta, the city-based bookstore and art-literature space, announce the winners of the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize 2020. Winners take home an original trophy, Thought Beyond Words and also a total purse of Rs. 50,000 under the 5 categories.
The prizes will be awarded during a special ceremony on the 13th of December 2020 during the 9th edition of The Bangalore Literature Festival. Publishers have submitted over 100 books for consideration under the category of Fiction (English), about 120 books for consideration under the category of Non-Fiction (English), about 50 books for Popular Choice (English) and about 40 books for Best Cover Design. A large reader-based subterranean jury put together the long-list from these submissions and another jury comprising of writers worked on the shortlist. The Popular Choice (English) award winner have been selected on the basis of an online voting campaign. For the Literary Achievement Award in Kannada award, the jury have selected an author who has made a significant contribution to the Kannada language and literature in form, function and flavour. The final jury was headed by well-known writers Shobhaa De for the Fiction Category, and Akshaya Mukul for the Non-Fiction Category. The jury for the Literary Achievement Award in Kannada was constituted of the past winners of the award.
So, the winners for 2020 are
Best Fiction (English) – Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line – Deepa Anappara (Penguin Hamish Hamilton)
Best Non Fiction (English) – The Death Script: Dreams and Delusions in Naxal Country – Ashutosh Bhardwaj (4th Estate)
Popular Choice – Made in India: A Memoir – Milind Soman with Roopa Pai (Penguin eBury)
Achievement in Kannada Literature – Vaidehi
Best Cover Design – Rising Heat (Penguin Hamish Hamilton) – Cover Design by Gunjan Ahlawat
Atta Galatta is a Bengaluru-based bookstore with focus on Indian, language writing and is a venue for literary, art and cultural events. Since its inception 8 years ago, the bookstore has hosted over 1500 events, including book launches, poetry readings, theatre performances, art shows, screenings, storytelling sessions and workshops.
Atta Galatta has ventured into publishing, and their first publication “Karnakavita”, an anthology of Hindi and Urdu poetry by 30 Bengaluru-based poets, was launched in August 2015
The Bangalore Literature Festival celebrates the creative spirit of Bengaluru and commemorates the literary diversity it offers, bringing it in conversation with the best minds in the world of literature. The 2020- edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival is a two-day literary extravaganza that will bring together some of the biggest names in literature – within and outside India.
The objective of the Bangalore Literature Festival is to put together a literary experience that brings writers – both established and aspiring, readers, publishers, students and young professionals and other stakeholders of the city together on a common platform and create a compelling space for engaging and thought-provoking discussions on literature and life.
Meghana Harikumar
Editor
Chaitra Udayakumar
Ranjani Govind
