NIF Book Prize Announces the Winner for 2021
Bangalore : The New India Foundation has announced the winner of the fourth edition of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2021. The 2021 winner is Dinyar Patel for Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism (Harvard University Press), an outstanding biography of one of the most significant figures in modern Indian history.
Watch the announcement here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7gW6kQgQO8.
The winner was selected from a brilliant shortlist of six books that covered a variety of themes and subjects and showcased some of the finest non-fiction writing about the world’s largest democracy.
Instituted in 2018, the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the country. It celebrates high-quality non-fiction literature on modern and contemporary India from writers of all nationalities published in the previous calendar year. The Prize carries a cash award of INR 15 lakhs and a citation.
This year’s winner, Dinyar Patel, was selected by a jury panel which included political scientist and author Niraja Gopal Jayal (Jury Chair), entrepreneur and author Nandan Nilekani; historian and author Srinath Raghavan; historian and author Nayanjot Lahiri; and entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal.
The Jury citation for the winner of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2021 reads:
“Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism by Dinyar Patel (Harvard University Press) is an exemplary biography about one of India’s first nationalists, written with great lucidity and detail by a promising scholar. In his keenly-researched work, Dinyar Patel illuminates the life and legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji as a key figure in the history of India’s movement towards Independence.”
The Prize will be presented to Dinyar Patel at a special event on 4th December 2021 held in collaboration with the Bangalore International Centre. The presentation will be followed by an interaction with the Winner which will be streamed live on NIF and BIC social media handles at 6.30 pm IST.