WINNERS - 2023
BOOK OF THE YEAR – FICTION
Entering the Maze: Queer Fiction of Krishnagopal Mallick
translated by Niladri R. Chatterjee
Entering the Maze is a work of translation as much as it is a work of fiction. Niladri R. Chatterjee brings into English the queer stories of Krishnagopal Mallick, whose autobiographical fiction charts the lives and loves of gay men in colonial India, lives shaped and shadowed by the criminalisation that colonial law imposed on them. In recovering this writing and making it newly readable, Chatterjee has returned to circulation a voice that might otherwise have remained inaccessible, and with it a dimension of urban Indian life that has rarely been depicted with such ease and frankness.
BOOK OF THE YEAR - NON FICTION
Footprints of a Queer History: Life-Stories from Gujarat
by Maya Sharma
Maya Sharma’s book is, by her own description, a simple narrative, and that simplicity is itself a kind of argument. Gathering queer life-stories from Gujarat, it sets personal journeys, friendships, political consciousness, and socio-legal struggles within a larger historical frame, without allowing that frame to swallow the individual voices. The book proceeds from a belief that stories alone can fully capture the day-to-day reality of lives lived at the margins, and that in the untold and the unstated, readers may find something that echoes their own experience.
OP - ED OF THE YEAR
Locating Queerness in Indian Languages
by Chittajit Mitra
Chittajit Mitra’s Op-Ed takes on a question that sits at the intersection of language, identity, and culture: what happens to queerness when it moves between Indian languages, and what does translation do, or fail to do, to the experience it is trying to carry across? It is a piece that thinks carefully about something that often goes unexamined, and in doing so opens up a conversation about how the languages we inherit both enable and limit the ways we can speak about who we are.
FEATURE OF THE YEAR
Brahmin Men Who Love to Eat A**
by Akhil Kang
Akhil Kang, a dalit-queer anthropologist and PhD candidate at Cornell University, uses a disarmingly specific subject, brahmin gay men and their relationship to rimming, to open up a much larger inquiry into caste, purity, and desire. Drawing on interviews with four brahmin gay men, Kang traces how brahmin anxieties around dirt and cleanliness do not dissolve in the bedroom, but show up there in new and revealing ways. It is a piece that is rigorous and deeply personal at once, and it does something that dalit-queer scholarship rarely gets the space to do: it studies upward, turning the ethnographic gaze on the community that has historically done most of the looking.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Hoshang Merchant
The 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Hoshang Merchant, widely regarded as modern India’s first openly gay poet. Across more than four decades as a poet, critic, and professor of English literature, Merchant wrote openly about queer life at a time when very few did, helping build a literary culture where queer writing could exist and be taken seriously.
JURY 2023
MEMBERS
Adrija Bose is a Senior Editor at BOOM Live. She has previously worked at Firstpost, HuffPost India and CNN-News18. Her reportage of over the last 11 years focussed on gender, politics, human rights, environment and the Internet culture. She has won three UN Laadli Awards for gender sensitivity in reporting, the 2019 RedInk Awards for her reporting on Meghalaya’s coal miners and the Polestar Award for her story on Haryana’s female footballers. She leads Decode, a vertical for BOOM that covers the intersection of technology and human lives. She commissions, edits and reports on polarisation, disinformation and human rights.
Adrija Bose is a Senior Editor at BOOM Live. She has previously worked at Firstpost, HuffPost India and CNN-News18. Her reportage of over the last 11 years focussed on gender, politics, human rights, environment and the Internet culture. She has won three UN Laadli Awards for gender sensitivity in reporting, the 2019 RedInk Awards for her reporting on Meghalaya’s coal miners and the Polestar Award for her story on Haryana’s female footballers. She leads Decode, a vertical for BOOM that covers the intersection of technology and human lives. She commissions, edits and reports on polarisation, disinformation and human rights.
Dr Alka Pande is an art historian, author and curator with two post-graduation degrees one in history and the second in history of art. Followed by a PhD in Art History and a Post-Doc in Critical Art Theory, University of London. She is Recipient of the Charles Wallace Award, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by French government, Australian-India Council Special Award, L’Oreal Paris Femina Women award and Amrita Sher-Gil Samman. She built the collection of Indian Artists for the Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria. (2010). The Divine Gesture Gallery at the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, and the Outdoor Sculpture Park for the Fateh Prakash, a Taj Property at Udaipur (2020). Dr Pande has also authored a number of books on Indian Art and Culture. Ardhnarisvara: The Androgyne Probing the Gender Within, Body Sutra, Shringara: The Many Faces of Indian Beauty, Pha(bu)llus: A Cultural History. She was the Artisitic Director of Photosphere an initiative of the India Habitat Centre in 2016 & 2019, the Project Director of the First Ever Bihar Museum Biennale, 2021. Currently, Dr Pande is a consultant art advisor and curator of the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Dr Alka Pande is an art historian, author and curator with two post-graduation degrees one in history and the second in history of art. Followed by a PhD in Art History and a Post-Doc in Critical Art Theory, University of London. She is Recipient of the Charles Wallace Award, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by French government, Australian-India Council Special Award, L’Oreal Paris Femina Women award and Amrita Sher-Gil Samman. She built the collection of Indian Artists for the Essl Museum, Vienna, Austria. (2010). The Divine Gesture Gallery at the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, and the Outdoor Sculpture Park for the Fateh Prakash, a Taj Property at Udaipur (2020). Dr Pande has also authored a number of books on Indian Art and Culture. Ardhnarisvara: The Androgyne Probing the Gender Within, Body Sutra, Shringara: The Many Faces of Indian Beauty, Pha(bu)llus: A Cultural History. She was the Artisitic Director of Photosphere an initiative of the India Habitat Centre in 2016 & 2019, the Project Director of the First Ever Bihar Museum Biennale, 2021. Currently, Dr Pande is a consultant art advisor and curator of the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Anish Gawande is a writer and translator. He is the director of the Dara Shikoh Fellowship, an interdisciplinary arts residency, and the founder of Pink List India, the country’s first archive of politicians supporting LGBTQ+ rights. Gawande is a Rhodes Scholar and holds postgraduate degrees in intellectual history and public policy from the University of Oxford.
Anish Gawande is a writer and translator. He is the director of the Dara Shikoh Fellowship, an interdisciplinary arts residency, and the founder of Pink List India, the country’s first archive of politicians supporting LGBTQ+ rights. Gawande is a Rhodes Scholar and holds postgraduate degrees in intellectual history and public policy from the University of Oxford.
Jyotsna Siddharth (She/They) is an actor, artist and writer and Country Director, Gender at Work India. Jyotsna’s practice spreads across institutional building, intersectionality, arts, activism, theatre, and development. Jyotsna has master’s in Development Studies from TISS Mumbai and Social Anthropology from School of Oriental and African Studies, London and a recipient of Chevening Scholarship, British High Commission (2014). In 2023, Jyotsna was Cosmopolitan Blogger’s Award Nominee for Dalit Feminism Archive and in 2020 they were featured as 40 under 40 by Edex and New Indian Express. They are also a peer advisor to Feminism in India, The Rights Collective UK, Giving Tuesdays India and CPA Project.
Jyotsna’s work has featured in Times of India, The Hindu, Roundtable India, Savari, Feminism in India, Smashboard, Ashoka Literature Festival, Vogue India, Mid-Day, The Rights Collective UK, Feminism in India, The Swaddle, The Citizen, DHRDNet, UN Women Asia and Pacific, Manchester University Press, India Culture Lab, Grazia India, Party Office, Documenta Fifteen, News18, Khirkee Voice, Khoj and more. Jyotsna is currently fundraising and working on a self-written play, ‘Clay’.
Jyotsna Siddharth (She/They) is an actor, artist and writer and Country Director, Gender at Work India. Jyotsna’s practice spreads across institutional building, intersectionality, arts, activism, theatre, and development. Jyotsna has master’s in Development Studies from TISS Mumbai and Social Anthropology from School of Oriental and African Studies, London and a recipient of Chevening Scholarship, British High Commission (2014). In 2023, Jyotsna was Cosmopolitan Blogger’s Award Nominee for Dalit Feminism Archive and in 2020 they were featured as 40 under 40 by Edex and New Indian Express. They are also a peer advisor to Feminism in India, The Rights Collective UK, Giving Tuesdays India and CPA Project.
Jyotsna’s work has featured in Times of India, The Hindu, Roundtable India, Savari, Feminism in India, Smashboard, Ashoka Literature Festival, Vogue India, Mid-Day, The Rights Collective UK, Feminism in India, The Swaddle, The Citizen, DHRDNet, UN Women Asia and Pacific, Manchester University Press, India Culture Lab, Grazia India, Party Office, Documenta Fifteen, News18, Khirkee Voice, Khoj and more. Jyotsna is currently fundraising and working on a self-written play, ‘Clay’.
Kalki Subramaniam is a transgender rights activist, Inclusion Catalyst, Artist and Writer from Tamil Nadu India. She runs the Sahodari Foundation which works for the social, political and economic empowerment of the transgender community. She has empowered and mentored so many role models in the transgender community including transgender doctors, lawyers, engineers, corporate professionals etc. She has spoken at several corporate companies including Google, Facebook, Adobe, Walmart, Uber etc. for the inclusion of transgender people in jobs in all levels of the companies and creates inclusive policies in the companies.
Kalki has won several awards for her contribution towards transgender people’s empowerment in India. Through her writings, art and films she inspires thousands of transgender people with hope and dignity for a promising future. She has spoken at Harvard, Yale, Cornell and University of Philadelphia in USA. She is the author of the famous book; We Are Not The Others; which is available on Amazon. She is also the Ambassador of Trans Amsterdam organization in Netherlands. She lives with her family in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu.
Kalki Subramaniam is a transgender rights activist, Inclusion Catalyst, Artist and Writer from Tamil Nadu India. She runs the Sahodari Foundation which works for the social, political and economic empowerment of the transgender community. She has empowered and mentored so many role models in the transgender community including transgender doctors, lawyers, engineers, corporate professionals etc. She has spoken at several corporate companies including Google, Facebook, Adobe, Walmart, Uber etc. for the inclusion of transgender people in jobs in all levels of the companies and creates inclusive policies in the companies.
Kalki has won several awards for her contribution towards transgender people’s empowerment in India. Through her writings, art and films she inspires thousands of transgender people with hope and dignity for a promising future. She has spoken at Harvard, Yale, Cornell and University of Philadelphia in USA. She is the author of the famous book; We Are Not The Others; which is available on Amazon. She is also the Ambassador of Trans Amsterdam organization in Netherlands. She lives with her family in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu.
Parvati Sharma has written two historical biographies: Jahangir: An Intimate Portrait of a Great Mughal and Akbar of Hindustan. She has also written two books of history for children, The Story of Babur and Rattu & Poorie’s Adventures in History: 1857. Her debut was a collection of short stories called The Dead Camel and Other Stories of Love, followed by a novella, Close to Home. Parvati lives in New Delhi, where she has studied English literature and Indian history, and worked as a travel writer, editor and journalist.
Parvati Sharma has written two historical biographies: Jahangir: An Intimate Portrait of a Great Mughal and Akbar of Hindustan. She has also written two books of history for children, The Story of Babur and Rattu & Poorie’s Adventures in History: 1857. Her debut was a collection of short stories called The Dead Camel and Other Stories of Love, followed by a novella, Close to Home. Parvati lives in New Delhi, where she has studied English literature and Indian history, and worked as a travel writer, editor and journalist.
Sindhu is an acclaimed author & researcher. Her debut novel Kaleidoscopic Reflections was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, while her latest book of nonfiction is the best-selling Smashing the Patriarchy – A Guide for the 21st century Indian Woman. Sindhu’s fiction, poetry & essays have been published internationally by literary magazines & leading platforms. She’s currently pursuing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, where she’s a recipient of the Dean’s Global Research Award. She’s exploring queer South Asian pasts, creative epistemologies & queer decolonial storytelling.
Sindhu is an acclaimed author & researcher. Her debut novel Kaleidoscopic Reflections was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, while her latest book of nonfiction is the best-selling Smashing the Patriarchy – A Guide for the 21st century Indian Woman. Sindhu’s fiction, poetry & essays have been published internationally by literary magazines & leading platforms. She’s currently pursuing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, where she’s a recipient of the Dean’s Global Research Award. She’s exploring queer South Asian pasts, creative epistemologies & queer decolonial storytelling.