Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize for Designer Paramita Brahmachari’s ‘Pebble Monkey’

Designer Paramita Brahmachari’s cover design for “Pebble Monkey” has received the highly desired 8th edition of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize. The winners were revealed on Monday at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), and included acclaimed scenographer Satyabrata Rout’s “Scenography: An Indian Perspective,” which won the inaugural edition of the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize. Both winners, Brahmachari and Rout, were awarded a trophy, certificate, and a cash reward of one lakh rupees by the chair of the jury, Alka Pande, and Martine Aamdal Bottheim, Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. In her video message, Brahmachari commended Oxford Bookstore for creating and maintaining a platform that focuses attention on the book as a “tactile and visual object,” while Rout said the honor has given him a “sense of confidence.”

“I’m grateful to Oxford Bookstore for creating and maintaining this platform that focuses attention on the book as a tactile, visual object, and especially for bringing visibility to a small press like the Jadavpur University Press, which works with very limited resources.” “I am overjoyed and honored to have received this award and to have been considered by such a distinguished panel of jurors,” the Kolkata-based designer said. Brahmachari’s book design won the award after beating five shortlisted books — including “Memory Police”, “Birdwatching: A Novel”, “Invisible Empire”, “Shakti: An exploration of the Divine Feminine” and “The Muslim Vanishes” — spanning across distinct genres and themes. The jury members were noted politician-writer Shashi Tharoor, celebrated author-columnist Shobhaa De, eminent author Kunal Basu, art historian Alka Pande and Priti Paul, director of Apeejay Surrendra Group.