The New India Foundation calls for applications Round 12 of the NIF Book Fellowships on Contemporary India
The New India Foundation is pleased to invite applications for the 12th edition of its prestigious New India Foundation Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence.
With an award of INR 18 lakhs to each recipient, the New India Foundation Book Fellowships provide editorial, legal, and administrative support, along with the opportunity to join the diverse NIF Community. Open to Indian nationals, including those residing abroad, these Fellowships are granted for a period of one year.
Since its inception two decades ago, the New India Foundation has sponsored the publication of 34 critically-acclaimed, award-winning books across a wide range of topics detailing the trajectory of India after 1947.
According to Srinath Raghavan, Trustee, New India Foundation, “One of our objectives with the New India Foundation was to broaden the circle of people who write about India from a non-fiction perspective. We hope that the Fellowship will give an opportunity for people from a diverse range of careers and professions to write their book about India, because so many of us have different entry points into understanding this country.”
Fellowship-holders are expected to write original books. Proposals should be oriented towards publication, and outline a roadmap towards that destination. The Foundation is agnostic as regards genre, theme, and ideology: the only requirement is that the proposed works contribute to a fuller understanding of independent India. Thus, Fellowship-holders may choose to write a memoir, or a work of reportage, or a thickly footnoted academic study. Book proposals can focus on economics, politics, or culture, and can be either specific—like a single decade or region—or broad, covering a nationwide perspective.
Applications open: 1st August 2024
Applications close: 31st December 2024
Applications can be accessed through the website www.newindiafoundation.org, and all queries may please be directed to [email protected] or [email protected]. Applicants are expected to submit a Book Proposal (up to 5000 words), a Writing Sample (up to 5000 words), and a CV.
Recent publications under the New India Foundation Book Fellowship include:
- Neha Dixit’s The Many Lives of Syeda X (Juggernaut 2024)
- Sohini Chattopadhyay’s The Day I Became a Runner (HarperCollins 2023)
- Arupjyoti Saikia’s The Quest for a Modern Assam (Penguin 2023)
- Abhishek Choudhary’s Vajpayee (PanMacmillan 2023)
- Manoj Mitta’s Caste Pride (Westland 2023)
- Savithri Preetha Nair’s Chromosome Woman, Nomad Scientist (Routledge 2023).
A full list of published books and Fellowship proposals can be found on the New India Foundation website.