Crossword Bookstores has revealed the eagerly awaited Jury Awards shortlist for the esteemed Crossword Book Awards 2025. This comes after the longlist was disclosed last month. The shortlist for this year features a rich and dynamic selection of five books in each category, highlighting the highest standards of excellence and creative storytelling in Indian writing in English.
The shortlist this year covers five main categories – Fiction, Non-fiction, Translations, Children’s Books, and Business & Management.
Shortlisted books by category
Children’s Books
● The Wall Friends Club by Varsha Seshan, illustrated by Denise Antao (HarperCollins Publishers India)
● Ajay of Agumbe and the Signal Snake by Zai Whitaker, illustrated by Rajiv Eipe (Pratham Books)
● Kushti Kid by Vibha Batra (Scholastic India)
● The Body in the Swimming Pool by Shabnam Minwalla (Speaking Tiger)
● The Book of Emperors by Ashwitha Jayakumar, Illustrated by Nikhil Gulati (Penguin Random House India)
Non-fiction
● Golwalkar by Dhirendra K Jha (Simon & Schuster India)
● Gods, Guns and Missionaries by Manu S Pillai (Penguin Random House)
● The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary (Westland Books)
● Iconoclast by Anand Teltumbde (Penguin Random House India)
● Lōal Kashmir by Mehak Jamal (HarperCollins Publishers India)
Translations
● The Day the Earth Bloomed by Manoj Kuroor, translated from Malayalam by J Devika (Bloomsbury India)
● Mudritha by Jissa Jose, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil (HarperCollins Publishers India)
● Our City That Year by Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell (Penguin Random House India)
● The Owl, the River and the Valley by Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated from Assamese by Mitra Phukan (Penguin Random House India)
● Unlove Story by Sudipto Pal, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha (Seagull Books)
Fiction
● Girls Who Stray by Anisha Lalvani (Bloomsbury India)
● Rising Sons by Kavery Nambisan (Penguin Random House India)
● An Unholy Drought by Madhulika Liddle (Speaking Tiger)
● Great Eastern Hotel by Ruchir Joshi (HarperCollins Publishers India)
● The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Penguin Random House India)
Business & Management
● Ratan Tata by Thomas Mathew (HarperCollins Publishers India)
● Just a Mercenary? by Duvvuri Subbarao (Penguin Random House India)
● Behold the Leviathan by Saurabh Mukherjea & Nandita Rajhansa (Penguin Random House India)
● The Dirty Dozen by N. Sundaresha Subramanian (PanMacmillan India)
● Sky High by Tarun Shukla (HarperCollins Publishers)
The winners in each category will be revealed on 3rd December 2025, during the official ceremony at The LaLit Mumbai, honouring India's premier literary accomplishments.
Established in 1998, the Crossword Book Awards rank among India’s most respected and long-standing literary prizes, committed to honouring the nation’s top authors and narratives across various genres. The awards aim to acknowledge the best in Indian writing in English, promote Indian authors and their works, and encourage a reading culture and discussions among book enthusiasts across the country.
