At a festive ceremony held at the India Habitat Centre, Oxford Bookstores revealed Bhavi Mehta as the recipient of the 9th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize. Mehta was awarded the prize for the book jacket of Pradeep Sebastian’s “The Book Beautiful,” which was published by Hachette India.

The winner was felicitated with a trophy, certificate and 1 Lakh Indian Rupees cash prize by Dr. Alka Pande, Museum curator, art historian, author and jury chair, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, well-known author, politician and Member of Parliament, H.E Ms. May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of Norway to India, Ms. Anja Riedeberger, Director Information Services South Asia Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and Mr.Swagat Sengupta, CEO, Apeejay Oxford Bookstores.

The jurors recognized three other designers in addition to the winning cover for their exceptional proficiency with graphics and visual storytelling.

These designers were Gunjan Ahlawat for the book, “The Penguin Book of Indian Poets” published by Hamish Hamilton- an imprint of Penguin Random House, Saurav Das for “Azad Nagar” published by Harper Collins India and Saurabh Garge for “The Adornment of Gods” published by Westland Books.

The evening also witnessed the announcement of the longlist of the second Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize. Dr. Alka Pande, Jury chair, museum curator, art historian, and author, and H.E Ms. May-Elin Stener, Ambassador of Norway to India announced the 13-longlisted book titles at the occasion.

The jury for the second edition of  Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize includes Ambassador of Norway to India, 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 and Founder and Director, Art Alive Gallery, Ms. Sunaina Anand.

Congrats to the winners.

Priyanka Dutta