Benyamin, Perumal Murugan, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Ira Mukhoty and Snigdha Poonam are among the authors named on the shortlist for this year’s Crossword Jury Book Awards in four categories – fiction, non-fiction, translations and children’s books.

The award was founded in 1998 to act as an Indian counterpart to international literary awards such as the Man Booker Prize and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and includes Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth and Suketu Mehta among past winners.

The award comes with a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh for winners in each of the four categories of the Jury Award and Rs 1 lakh for winners of the Popular Choice category.

Here is the complete list of shortlisted titles:

Fiction

Non-fiction

Translations

  • Ocean Rimmed World, RN Joe D’Cruz, translated from the Tamil by G Geetha, Oxford University Press
  • Chinatown Days, Rita Chowdhury, translated from the Assamese by the author, Pan Macmillan India
  • Jasmine Days, Benyamin, translated from the Malayalam by Shahnaz Habib, Juggernaut
  • The Goat Thief, Perumal Murugan, translated from the Tamil by N Kalyan Raman, Juggernaut
  • The Unseeing Idol of Light, KR Meera, translated from the Malayalam by Ministhy S, Penguin Random House India

Children’s Books