Chetan Raj Shreshtha & Ananya Vajpayee receive the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2013, today, announced the winners of the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award, an annual award to encourage, recognise and celebrate first-time writers in English, in the Indian literary space across the fiction and non-fiction genres.
Chetan Raj Shrestha, a 34 year old architect from Sikkim, Gangtok, was declared winner in the fiction category for his debut novel, ‘The King’s Harvest’, published by Aleph Book Company.
In the non-fiction category, Ananya Vajpeyi, a senior fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, won the coveted award for her book, ‘Righteous Republic’, published by Harvard University Press.
Works were judged for excellence, originality and accessibility, as well as promise. This year, the jury, comprised of the veteran author, Sir Mark Tully; social commentator, Mr. Santosh Desai; senior journalist, Mr. Dileep Padgaonkar; COO, Landmark, Mr. Ashutosh Pandey; and Festival Director, Mr. Anil Dharker.
Thrilled with her debut win, Ananya said, “I am an academic by profession and a historian by temperament. With this book both of these have come together with my love for writing. I am thankful to the jury members for appreciating my work and giving me this honour.”
Chetan, who could not be here, messaged saying, “I know how to write but I don’t know what to say. I would just like to thank everyone who has given me this prestigious award”.
The four day festival saw a range of interesting panel discussions, book launches, open house conversations, poetry readings and straight talk with celebrated authors, publishers and literary agents.
This year, the jury, comprised of the veteran author, Sir Mark Tully; social commentator, Mr. Santosh Desai; senior journalist, Mr. Dileep Padgaonkar; COO, Landmark, Mr. Ashutosh Pandey; and Festival Director, Mr. Anil Dharker.
