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This year the awards in the Fiction category is won by Kalpana Swaminathan for the book Venus Crossing – Twelve Stories, Looking East To Look West – Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India by author Sunanda K. Datta- Ray and Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by author Rajni Bakshi have jointly won in the Non-Fiction category, Siddhartha Sarma for the book The Grasshopper’s Run has won in the Children’s category and Othappu by author Sarah Joseph (translated by Valson Thampu) has bagged Translation award.

‘The Vodafone Crossword Popular Book Award’ which was introduced in 2005, was won by author Rajni Bakshi for her book Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom. The Award is a unique initiative by Crossword and Vodafone and offers readers the opportunity to vote for their favourite book.

C.B Navalkar – CEO Crossword Bookstores stated, “We are very happy with the response we have been receiving over the years from publishers, authors as well as our readers; we are back once again to encourage and reward the best of Indian writing. As the Vodafone Crossword Book Awards enter its 9th year, we are delighted to have successfully created and sustained the biggest literary platform in
India.”

A packed audience that included distinguished writers, publishers, critics and book-lovers enjoyed the much-awaited event that is poised to become the biggest celebration of Indian literature. Shortlisted authors Amit Chaudhuri, Arunava Sinha, Biman Nath, Gurcharan Das, Maitreyee S. C., Mridula Koshy, Nonica Datta, Roopa Pai, Salma, Shreekumar Varma and S. M. M. Ausaja were present at this well-attended event.

Eminent author & poet Arundhathi Subramanian and eminent author & art curator Ranjit Hoskote played hosts for the evening. The winners for the Vodafone Crossword Book Awards 2009 were decided by a respected panel of judges comprising well-known academics, critics and writers in each category. Usha K. R, Harish Trivedi and Bishakha Datta served as judges in the Fiction category; Harsh Sethi, Urvashi Butalia and Pratap Bhanu Mehta for the Non-Fiction category; Ansuhka Ravishankar, Paro Anand, Subashree Krishnaswamy for the Children’s category and Ira Pande, Sukanta Chaudhuri and Rita Kothari for the Translation category.