Tamil publisher Kalachuvadu named ‘Publisher of the Year’ at the Publishing Next Industry Awards

Nagercoil-based Kalachuvadu was among 11 winners and 10 runners-up who received the honours that were presented in 10 categories. Kalachuvadu was adjudged Publisher of the Year 2018, “for being a publisher that prioritises books of highest quality and tries to reinvent them so as to be relevant to the reader. The exchange of ideas with foreign publishers at various fora, the rights sales of their books, and their purchase of rights to translate and publish in Tamil, communicates a sense of them working towards a larger vision of publishing.”

English language publisher HarperCollins Publishers was adjusted runner-up in the category.

Since its inception in 2014, the annual Publishing Next Industry Awards recognises and reward talent, initiative, entrepreneurship and quality in book publishing, across publishers of all sizes, and in all Indian languages. Established under the aegis of the Publishing Next Conference, a platform furthering discussion and networking within the book publishing industry, the Publishing Next Industry Awards seek to celebrate innovation and leadership in the Indian book trade.

This year, the Awards introduced a new category, ‘Illustrator of the Year’. Sonali Zohra was named Illustrator of the Year 2018 while Rajiv Eipe bagged the runner-up honour.

The other categories rewarded excellence in different aspects of the book business, from editing, cover design and book production to selling. 

The Bookstore of the Year 2018 was awarded to Trilogy Bookstore in Mumbai, with Bhubaneswar-based Walking BookFairs, emerging as the runner-up.

Premanka Goswami of Penguin Random House India was named Editor of the Year. Aienla Ozukum of Aleph Book Company won the runner-up trophy.

The Book Cover of the Year Award was given out in two categories, Indian languages and English. In Indian languages, the M Rohini won the Award for her design of the cover of Peruvali, published by Kalachavadu Publications. Saurabh Garge was the runner-up for his design of the cover of Do Log, published by HarperCollins India. In English, the Award went to Pooja Saxena for her design of the cover of Centrepiece, published by Zubaan. Haitenlo Semy was named runner-up for his design of the cover of Jadoowallahs, Jugglers and Jinns: A Magical History of India, published by Pan Macmillan India.

The Konyaks: Last of the Tattooed Headhunters, published by Roli Books was named the Illustrated Book of the Year 2018. The runner-up trophy went to Vivan Sundaram: History Project, published by Tulika Books, Delhi.

The Children’s Book of the Year was present to A Book for Puchku, published by Pratham Books and Salim Mamoo and Me, published by Tulika Publishers, Chennai. Dance of the Wild, published by Pickle Yolk Books, was the runner-up.

The Printed Book of the Year Award was given out in two categories, Indian languages and English. In Indian languages, the Odia book Janamaru Marana, published by Dhauli Books, was named the winner while the Marathi title Avasthantarachya Kavita, published by Copper Coin Publishing, was the runner-up.

In English, Sair-ul-Manazil, published by Tulika Books, was named Printed Book of the Year. The runner-up was Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory, published by HarperCollins Publishers India.

The Awards ceremony, usually held in Goa during the annual Publishing Next Conference, was organised in Delhi this year to coincide with the New Delhi World Book Fair, which draws publishers from all over India.

The event started with a panel discussion on ‘Truth and morality: What's publishing got to Do with it? with Rihan Nijab, books editor, The Hindu Business Line; Vivek Mehra, CEO, Sage India; Arpita Das, publisher, Yoda Press; Karthika VK, publisher, Amazon/Westland; Aienla Ozukum, managing editor, Aleph Book Company and Raman Shresta, owner, Rachna Bookstore, Gangtok.

This is followed by a keynote address by Ravikant, associate professor, CSDS, who spoke about difficulties of publishing in Indic languages and how audio-visual media is tackling the complexities of languages better than print.