Penguin Random House turns 35

The hashtag BookedByPenguin invites everyone to join Penguin as it goes live on all its platforms in the form of engaging content, contests, and giveaways from 10 October. The integrated campaign also has online and offline legs going to all parts of the country. Retail chains and independent bookstores have come on board too to celebrate this milestone anniversary. 

BookedByPenguin also launches special partnerships that will spread the joy of reading. In collaboration with Books on the Delhi Metro (BODM), a non-profit initiative, Penguin will make metro rides even more exciting where people will find books at unsuspecting locations in the metro and have the chance to pay it forward too. 

Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO, Penguin Random House India & SEA, said, “When you see India's literary history, 35 may not seem like such a grand milestone. But it is indeed a proud moment for Penguin to have been able to succeed in adding value to a country as diverse and multicultural as ours.”

Penguin launched in India in 1987 with just six titles. By 2022, it has grown its local publishing list to over 3,000 and brought in over 50,000 international titles. 

“Over the years, we have introduced many award-winning books, discovered and published some of the greatest writers of our times, and more recently, our books have made global headlines with the Booker International Prize win and the Booker Prize for Fiction nomination. This is indeed a privilege that our readers have extended to us, inspiring us to do better and do more,” Shrinagesh added. 

To celebrate the occasion, Penguin has also announced the release of an exclusive anniversary edition series of some of the most iconic books published over these years. An eclectic catalogue is made up of 35 books. From literary fiction, romance, thrillers, narrative nonfiction, business, history, and minority voices, this new collector’s edition series is going to have something for everyone. 

With attractive new looks and covers, these books will be available across bookstores in the country and online from November onwards. Along with the collector’s editions, the readers will also have a chance to take home exclusive Penguin anniversary mementoes available at bookstores in the country to giveaway with the collector’s editions. 

Penguin is also committed to giving back to the community by donating 10,000 books through its different partners that serve and help the disadvantaged. The Community Library Project is helping take our books to first-generation readers and those who do not have easy access to books. This is in line with our vision to promote the habit of reading among the people of our country.

Penguin was established in India in 1985 and began printing in 1987. Random House launched in India with its publishing programme in 2005 and distribution operations in 2009. Penguin Random House is a result of a merger in 2013 when the two global publishing houses came together and became one of the most prominent English trade publishers and grew to be one of the most recognised names in the industry.

Over time, in India and subcontinent regions, it has become home to some of the greatest writers of our times, including Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Sudha Murty, Ruskin Bond, Khushwant Singh, Former President of India, Late APJ Abdul Kalam, Ramchandra Guha, Satyajit Ray, Jhumpa Lahiri, Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Salman Rushdie, to name a few. Many have gone on to win virtually every major literary prize, including the Nobel Prize, the Booker Prize, the Magsaysay Award, and the Jnanpith Award. Our authors have also been recipients of the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest civilian honours.

Penguin has also been bringing global literature to the Indian subcontinent and South Asia ever since. Over the years, it has presented over one-and-a-half lakh titles from world-renowned publishers such as Faber, Canongate, Fitzcaraldo Editions, Walker Books, Ingram, Harvard Business Review, Columbia University Press, Princeton University Press, and many more, along with books published by our group companies in USA and UK. 

In India, the company’s international portfolio comprises works by Nobel Laureates, Booker Prize winners, and bestselling authors, such as the former President of the USA, Barack Obama, the former First Lady of the USA, Michelle Obama, Dan Brown, Yuval Noah Harari, Jeff Kinney, Rick Riordan, Roald Dahl, Margaret Atwood, Harper Lee, Stephen Hawking, Elif Shafak, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami and the latest Nobel Prize awardee, Annie Ernaux.

In 2018, Penguin also opened its publishing operations in South East Asia with the launch of Penguin Random House SEA (PRH SEA) which is in line with our commitment to champion local publishing in Asia. Headquartered in Singapore, in these few short years, PRH SEA has risen to prominence as a platform for literary voices across English-language adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction categories from Singapore and Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). 

Penguin’s Exclusive 35 anniversary edition series  

1 10 Judgements that Changed India by Zia Mody 

2 And Then One Day by Naseeruddin Shah 

3 Being Mortal by Atul Gawande  

4 Bharat: Gandhi Ke Baad Ramachandra Guha (Hindi)

5 Book of Ram by Devdutt Pattanaik 

6 Chowringhee by Sankar, translated by Arunava Sinha  

7 Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer  

8 Everybody Loves a Good Drought by P Sainath  

9 Everyday Ayurveda by Bhaswati Bhattacharya 

10 Grandma's Bag Of Stories by Sudha Murthy 

11 I've Never Been (Un) Happier by Shaheen Bhatt 

12 India Since Independence by Bipan Chandra; Mridula Mukherjee Mridula and Aditya Mukherjee 13 India's Most Fearless by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh 

14 Life's Amazing Secrets by Gaur Gopal Das 

15 Makers of Modern History by Ramachandra Guha 

16 My India - Ideas for the Future by APJ Abdul Kalam 

17 One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan 

18 Queen of Ice by Devika Rangachari 

19 Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond  

20 Roses are Blood Red by Novoneel Chakraborty 

21 Same-Sex Love in India by Ruth Vanita 

22 Savarkar by Vikram Sampath 

23 Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh 

24 Tatalog by Harish Bhat 

25 The Constitution of India for Children by Subhadra Sen Gupta 

26 The Dhoni Touch by Bharat Sundaresan 

27 The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor 

28 The Man Who Saved India by Hindol Sengupta 

29 The Perfect Us by Durjoy Dutta 

30 The Princess and the Political Agent by Binodini Devi, translated by L Somi Roy 

31 The Radical In Ambedkar by Anand Teltumbde and Suraj Yengde 

32 Three Thousand Stitches by Sudha Murthy 

33 Unsuitable Boy by Karan Johar 

34 Vibhajan by Yasmin Khan 

35 Year of the Weeds by Siddhartha Sarma