Publishers submitted over 80 books for consideration under the category of Fiction (English), 120 books for consideration under the category of Non-Fiction (English) and 60 books for Popular Choice (English). A special reader based jury put together the long list from these submissions and another jury comprised of writers will announce the shortlist. The Best Illustrated Book for Adults award is a new category instituted in 2019 in association with Bodhitree.
For the Literary Achievement Award in Kannada, the jury selects an author who has made a significant contribution to Kannada language and literature in form, function and flavour.
The final jury for the year is headed by poet Arundhathi Subramaniam and editor Reena Puri.
Fiction
Longlist
Non-Fiction
Longlist
Popular Choice
To vote visit – agblfprize.com
Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize
Atta Galatta, in association with the Bangalore Literature Festival commemorates literary achievements with the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize.
Instituted in 2015, the annual awards are presented under the categories of Fiction (In English) , Non-Fiction (In English) , Popular Choice and a new category of Best Illustrated Book for Adults (instituted in 2019 in association with Bodhitree) based on selection by a jury led by eminent literary personalities. The annual awards are also presented for Literary Achievement in Kannada to one author, celebrating their body of work and contribution to the language.
The Atta Galatta – Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize is probably the only major literary prize that considers translations, short-story anthologies and self-published works
Winners take home an original trophy – Thought Beyond Words.
Trophy - Thought Beyond Words
Thought Beyond Words aims to showcase 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 and giving birth to more thoughts.
The sculpture was designed by Shri. T.S Ramani Sankar, the celebrated architect and executed by Sampath Appasamy of Artistick’s Art Forum.
Jury
Arundhathi Subramaniam
Bio
Described as 'one of the finest poets writing in India today' (The Hindu, 2010), Arundhathi Subramaniam is the award-winning author of twelve books of poetry and prose. Widely translated and anthologised, her book, When God is a Traveller (2014), was the Season Choice of the Poetry Book Society, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Her new book of poems, Love Without a Story, was published this year by Westland Amazon.
As editor, her most recent book is the Penguin anthology of Bhakti poetry, Eating God. As prose writer, her books include the bestselling biography of a contemporary mystic, Sadhguru: More Than a Life; and most recently, Adiyogi: The Source of Yoga (co-authored with Sadhguru).
She is the recipient of various awards and fellowships, including the inaugural Khushwant Singh Prize, the Raza Award for Poetry, the Zee Women’s Award for Literature, the International Piero Bigongiari Prize in Italy, the Mystic Kalinga award, the Charles Wallace, Visiting Arts and Homi Bhabha Fellowships, among others. She has worked over the years as poetry editor, cultural curator and critic.
Reena I Puri
Bio
Reena I. Puri, Executive Editor, Amar Chitra Katha, has been with the company since 1991. Earlier, she worked with various newspapers, magazines and television production houses, even becoming a radio jockey with All India Radio for a short while, till she discovered that writing comics was her forte. Reena was Associate Editor of Tinkle from 1991 and worked with its founder editor Anant Pai till 2005. During these years she learned from Mr Pai how to communicate effectively with children and use the comics format to convey inspiration, encouragement, hope and joy.
In 2008 she took over as Editor of Amar Chitra Katha and has led the team in the creation of new content for the series. The titles include mythology, history, biographies and folklore. She and her team created the six-volume series of Valmiki’s Ramayana and also the recently released Women Path-Breakers. Her special interest is collating lesser known folktales from across India and putting them in the comics format for children, particularly stories from tribal communities. She is also working on creating a collection based on the stories behind lesser known monuments of India. While creating new books, she has always kept in mind Anant Pai’s vision of bringing untold stories of India to the children of India, and acquainting them with their heritage.