The New India Foundation has been supporting the research and writing of works of non-fiction on various aspects of post-Independence India for several years now, giving out fellowships every two years. The Book Fellowship has just opened for applications for its 11th edition.

Each fellow will be awarded an annual stipend of Rs 18 lakh, besides editorial guidance through from proposal to publishers to actual publication. Open only to Indian nationals, including those currently living abroad, these Fellowships are awarded for a period of one year.

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From a pool of about 25 shortlisted proposals, the jury awards a maximum of 10 fellowships every two years. The jury this year includes social scientist and author Niraja Jayal, historian Srinath Raghavan, and entrepreneurs Nandan Nilekani and Manish Sabharwal.

Proposals could, for instance, be for memoirs, works of reportage, academic studies. The books could be oriented towards economics, politics, or culture. Along with a book proposal, the applicant will also have to submit a writing sample of at least 5,000 words through the website before December 31, 2022.

Since its inception, the NIF Book Fellowships have resulted in the publication of several
books that have recorded various aspects of contemporary Indian history. Recently published titles include Swati Ganguly’s Tagore’s University: A History of Visva-Bharati (1921-1961); Nazia Akhtar’s Bibi’s Room: Hyderabadi Women and Twentieth-Century Urdu Prose; Rahul Ramagundam’s The Life and Times of George Fernandes; Pradeep Magazine’s Not Just Cricket: A Reporter’s Journey Through Modern India; Rajshree Chandra’s
Competing Nationalisms: The Sacred and Political Life of Jagat Narain Lal; and G Kanoto Chophy’s
Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism among others.