Overview
- The Crossword Book Awards published ten-book longlists for each of five jury categories on Wednesday, Sept 16, 2026, starting the formal run-up to shortlists and the December awards.
- The fiction longlist includes titles by Sarnath Banerjee, Jeet Thayil and Shanta Gokhale alongside emerging writers, showing a mix of established and new voices.
- The translations list gathers works translated from Assamese, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and Bangla, highlighting the ceremony’s emphasis on regional languages.
- Organisers named separate juries for each category, including figures such as Anuja Chauhan, Jyoti Malhotra, Rama Bijapurkar, Ranjit Lal and Meena Kandasamy, and said winners will receive Rs 50,000.
- The Crossword Book Awards were instituted in 1998 and their 20th edition this year aims to broaden public engagement through jury shortlists, a Popular Choice vote and a December ceremony in Mumbai.