The New India Foundation announced the longlist of the 2023 Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize which honours nonfiction books about modern and contemporary Indian history. The winning author will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh.
This year’s jury comprises political scientist Niraja Gopal Jayal (Chair), historian Srinath Raghavan, columnist-writer Navtej Sarna, columnist-writer Yamini Aiyar, and entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal. The jury said about the shortlist, “...Each of the ten selected books extends, enriches, and nuances our understanding of India today – whether through biography and memoir, or art history, media history, constitutional history, urban history, or the evolution of political ideas and institutions.” The winner will announced on December 1.
Here are the longlisted books for this year’s Prize:
● The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East, Sudeep Chakravarti
● Founding Mothers of the Indian Republic: Gender Framing of the Politics of the Constitution, Achyut Chetan
● Delhi Reborn: Partition and Nation Building in India’s Capital, Rotem Geva
● Insurgency and the Artist: The Art of the Freedom Struggle in India, Vinay Lal
● Crooked Cats: Beastly Encounters in the Anthropocene, Nayanika Mathur
● Writer, Rebel, Soldier, Lover: The Many Lives of Agyeya, Akshaya Mukul
● The Journey of Hindi Language Journalism in India: From Raj to Swaraj and Beyond, Mrinal Pande
● Land, Guns, Caste, Woman: The Memoir of a Lapsed Revolutionary, Gita Ramaswamy
● House of the People: Parliament and the Making of Indian Democracy, Ronojoy Sen
● Nehru’s India: A History in Seven Myths, Taylor C Sherman
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!