Tulika, Tata Trusts win LBF International Excellence Awards

India made an impressive showing during the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards 2019, which was announced on 13 March, with two Indian publishing initiatives taking home the awards.

13 Mar 2019 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

Tulika Publishers won the Literary Translation Initiative Award while Tata Trusts won the Educational Initiatives Award.

Jacks Thomas, director, LBF, said, “The International Excellence Awards always remind us of the innovative, important and inspiring work being done by all those in the global publishing community. From translators in India and librarians in Finland to literary festivals in Ukraine and literary agents in France, these awards show the breadth of talent working in the publishing industry around the world today.”

Among other major winners, the bookstore of the year award went to Fang Suo Commune in Guangzhou, China, chosen from a shortlist that included Unity Books in Wellington, New Zealand, and BOA Bookstore in Vietnam.

“Fang Suo is … breathtaking in scale and conception,” said the judges. “A vast range and constant activities and events … that gives you a glimpse of what bookstores of the future will be.”

A special mention was given to Yemen Bookshop, which was praised for “importing and promoting books and multicultural understanding in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, where the mere fact it is there and functioning is remarkable”.

Other award-winners include:

Library of the year

Espoo City Library (Finland)

Literary festival

Book Arsenal Literary Festival (Ukraine)

International book trade journalist

Porter Anderson, editor-in-chief, Publishing Perspectives

Literary agent

Pierre Astier, founder and director, Astier-Pecher Literary & Film Agency

Rights professional

Rose Janssens, foreign rights key account manager, Clavis Publishing

Academic and professional publisher