Two writers of Indian descent have been nominated for the British Academy Book Prize
Two authors of Indian ancestry—Nandini Das of the UK and Kris Manjapra of the US—are among the six authors from across the globe on the shortlist announced here on Tuesday for the British Academy Book reward for Global Cultural Understanding, a prestigious award in non-fiction literature with a GBP 25,000 reward.
In the running for “Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire” is India-born Nandini Das, while “Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation” has a Caribbean-born Manjapra on the shortlist.
The award, which is in its eleventh year, is open to writers of any nationality, writing in any language, and located anywhere in the globe, providing that the nominated work is accessible in English and published in the UK. It honors nonfiction works based on extensive study that have significantly improved how the general public perceives other cultures and the connections between them.
Professor Charles Tripp, Fellow of the British Academy and head of the 2023 jury, stated, “We were greatly impressed by the exceptional quality of writing in this year’s shortlist and the ability of the authors to unearth extraordinary new discoveries and to find new perspectives on old perceptions.”
Das, who is in her forties, is an Oxford University professor of early modern literature and culture. She was raised in India and completed her studies at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University before relocating to England to continue her education. The judges have commended her nominated work as a “ground-breaking” debut.
“This beautifully written book tells the story of England’s first diplomatic mission to India in the early 1600s, through a combination of biography and historical narrative, alternating microscopic details with broader panoramas,” the judges write.
They said, “We appreciate how Das’s shifting viewpoint gives key insights into global linkages and altering power dynamics in this crucial time of world history as we discover how the Mughals and English understood and misinterpreted each other.
Manjapra, a Canadian native in his 40s who currently teaches history and global studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, was born and raised in Canada. His piece that was selected looks at the liberation movement’s shortcomings and how slavery died slowly over time.
“Written with restrained passion, this is a detailed and disturbing account of the false dawn of emancipation that accompanied the formal abolition of slavery in the 19th century,” read the judges’ remarks.
This book “gives life and memory to the enslaved, identifies the forces that built new systems of servitude in the aftermath of slavery, and argues forcefully against the disavowal of these ghosts in our social order, set against the enormity of the transatlantic slave trade and the myths surrounding its ending,” they said.
The other authors on the 2023 shortlist are Frenchman Daniel Foliard, whose book “The Violence of Colonial Photography” examines the role of photography in the history of British and French imperialism; Spanishwoman Irene Vallejo, whose book “Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World” documents literary culture in the ancient world; British Journalist Tania Branigan, whose book “Red Memory” unearths little-known Chinese stories; and American anthropologist Dimitris
The nominated authors will each earn GBP 1,000 at an awards event in London on October 31 when the winner of the GBP 25,000 prize will also be revealed.
Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed FBA, Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics; Professor Rebecca Earle, food historian and Professor of History at the University of Warwick; Fatima Manji, award-winning broadcaster; and Professor Gary Younge Hon, award-winning author, broadcaster, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Man make up the 2023 judging panel for the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.
