The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize reveals its 2023 longlist of 21 books

The covers of books in several languages of India, including English, feature on the 21-strong longlist of The Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023, which honours the work of artists and designers in designing book covers.

Here is the longlist of 21 books:

Birdwatching, Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company, cover design by Bena Sareen
The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder, DC Books, cover design by Leeza John
Shakti: An Exploration of the Divine Feminine, Nilima Chitgopekar, Dorling Kindersley India, cover design by Priyanka Thakur
Boys Don’t Cry, Meghna Pant, Ebury Publishing, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah
The Lesbian Cow and Other Stories, Indu Menon, translated from the Malayalam by Nandakumar K, Eka, cover design by Bhavya/Saurabh Garge
The Illuminated, Anindita Ghose, FourthEstate, cover design by Bonita Vaz-Shimray
Gods, Giants and Geography of India, Nalini Ramachandran, Hachette India Children’s Books, cover design by Sharanya Kunnath
Onam in a Nightie: Stories from a Kerala Quarantine, Anjana Menon, HarperCollins, cover design by Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal
Who’s Not Afraid of Z? Not Me!, Lubaina Bandukwala, HarperCollins Children’s Books, cover design by Allen Shaw
Onyoder Jiban, Neel Mukherjee, translated from the English into Bengali by Suchismita Ghosh, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Trinankur Banerjee
Pebble Monkey, Manindra Gupta, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha, Jadavpur University Press, cover design by Paramita Brahmachari
Kankabati Kalpabigyan Lekheni, edited by Yashodhora Raychaudhuri, Ankita and Dip Ghosh, Kalpabiswa Publications, cover design by Ujjwal Ghosh
Metronama: Scenes from the Delhi Metro, Rashmi Sadana, Roli Books, cover design by Shikhar Gaur
India: A Story Through 100 Objects, Vidya Dehejia, Roli Books, cover design by Sneha Pamneja
Motherland: Pushpamala N’s Woman and Nation, Monica Juneja and Sumathi Ramaswamy, Lustre, cover design by Advaita Vats
Growing up Jewish: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin, Ori Z Soltes, Niyogi Books, cover design by Misha Oberoi
How the Earth Got its Beauty, Sudha Murty, Puffin, cover design by Akangksha Sarmah and Devangana Dash and cover illustration by Priyanka Pachpande
Tirahe Par Teen, Rajni Gupt, Rajpal & Sons, cover design by Archana Jain
A Paradox of Dreams, Harshali Singh, Readomania Publishing, cover design by Sourish Mitra
Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses, Pranay Lal, Viking, cover design by Ahlawat Gunjan
The Muslim Vanishes, Saeed Naqvi, Vintage, cover design by Antra

This year’s jury comprises Priti Paul (Director Apeejay Surrendra Group) Shobhaa De (author), Kunal Basu, Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament and author), and Alka Pande (academician). Chief of Jury, Alka Pande said that the longlist “celebrates originality, creativity and reflects reality.” The shortlist for the award will be unveiled at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival in January 2023 and the winner will be announced in Delhi a few weeks later.

Here are the covers.