The Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival | Book Prize

The Bangalore Literature Festival and Atta Galatta, the city-based bookstore and art-literature space, instituted the Atta Galatta – Bangalore Literature Festival | Book Prize in 2015 to honour the best of English writing, each year. The awards carry a total purse of INR 2 lacs for the three categories: Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction and Literary Achievement Award in Kannada

The winners also receive an original trophy, Thought Beyond Words.

Fiction (English)

Shortlist

A Place of No Importance Veena Muthuraman Juggernaut
Jihadi Jane Tabish Khair Penguin Random House
One Point Two Billion Mahesh Rao HarperCollins
Pyre Perumal Murugan Penguin Random House
The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma Ratika Kapur Bloomsbury
Until the Lions: Echoes from Mahabharata Karthika Nair HarperCollins

Non-Fiction (English)

Shortlist

A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India Josy Joseph HarperCollins
Half-Lion Vinay Sitapati Penguin Random House
The Battle for Sanskrit Rajiv Malhotra HarperCollins
The Great Derangement Amitav Ghosh Penguin Random House
The Ivory Throne Manu Pillai HarperCollins
The Last Englishman – The Life and Times of Jack Gibson Laeeq Futehally Hachette

Literary Achievement Award in Kannada

For this award, our jury selects an author who has made a significant contribution to Kannada language and literature in form, function and flavour.

The Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival | Book Prize - Trophy

The winners receive an original sculpture titled “Thought Beyond Words” that showcases how creative insights precede their translation into language.

The sculpture depicts the mind as a tree and thoughts as birds. Birds come and go to the branches of the tree. Some fleetingly, some with more persistence. Some birds will take up residence in the tree, build a nest in its branches, giving birth to more thoughts.

Jury

A subterranean widespread jury headed by Jahnavi Barua and Manish Sabharwal.

2015 Prize Winners

Fiction (English)

The Way Things Were Aatish Taseer Picador

Non-Fiction (English)

Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India Akshaya Mukul HarperCollins India

Literary Achievement in Kannada

Prathibha Nandakumar