Bhavi Mehta's 'The Book Beautiful' Wins Prestigious Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2024

Bhavi Mehta won the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize for designing Pradeep Sebastian's "The Book Beautiful." She received a trophy, certificate, and Rs. 1 lakh. The prize aims to honor artistic achievements in book cover design. Six other books were shortlisted, reflecting diverse genres. Alka Pande, Shashi Tharoor, and May-Elin Stener presented the award. The event also announced the longlist for the Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize, recognizing excellence in art publications.

Designer Bhavi Mehta has been announced the winner of the ninth edition of Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize for creating the book jacket of Pradeep Sebastian's ''The Book Beautiful''.

The winner, announced on Monday at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), was felicitated with a trophy, certificate and one lakh rupees cash prize by art historian and the chair of the jury Alka Pande, author-politician Shashi Tharoor, Ambassador of Norway to India May-Elin Stener and CEO of Apeejay Oxford Bookstores Swagat Sengupta.

''I would like to thank Oxford Bookstore for this wonderful honour and Hachette India for giving me the opportunity to work on such a beautiful book. I am deeply humbled and grateful.

''A shout out to Pradeep Sebastian for trusting me with his book, really happy how it turned out. This is for my one year old son, Samar, who reminds me everyday to stay curious and have fun,'' Mehta said.

The other six shortlisted books were — Ahlawat Gunjan's ''The Penguin Book of Indian Poets'', Saurav Das' ''Azad Nagar'', Saurabh Garge's ''The Adornment of Gods'', Amit Malhotra's ''Not Quite a Disaster After All'', Bonita Vaz Shimray's ''Mystics and Sceptics'' and Sashi Bhushan Prasad's ''When Indian Flowers Bloomed in Europe'' — spanning across distinct genres and themes.

''Each cover tells a unique story, and it is truly an honor to be recognizing and celebrating these artistic achievements. Moreover, I want to acknowledge the commitment of my jury and, most importantly, the vision of Priti Paul, who while owning one of the best bookshops in the country, also has the vision to institute the prize and fueling it with her constant support,'' said Pande, who has been associated with the prize since its inception in 2016.

The evening also witnessed the announcement of the longlist of second Oxford Bookstore Art Book Prize. Instituted in 2022, it is an innovative collaboration between Oxford Bookstores and the Visual Arts Gallery, celebrating the best in art publications published in English language.

''Tipu Sultan'' by Giles Tillotson, ''Iconic Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art: Edition 3'' by Kishore Singh, ''Paachakam: Heritage Cuisine of Kerala'' by artist Sabita Radhakrishna, ''Thota Vaikuntam: A Celebration'' by artist Thota Vaikuntam and ''Wildlife Chronicles'' by artist Adit Jain are among the 13 titles longlisted for the prize.

Paramita Brahmachari's cover for ''Pebble Monkey'' had won the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2023.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)