2 Indian-origin authors shortlisted for British Academy Book Prize

Two authors of Indian heritage, Nandini Das and Kris Manjapra, are shortlisted for the 2023 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.

Two authors of Indian heritage, UK-based Nandini Das and US-based Kris Manjapra, are among six worldwide writers on the shortlist unveiled in London on Tuesday for the 2023 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding, a leading international non-fiction prize worth GBP 25,000.

India-born Nandini Das is in the running for 'Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire' and Caribbean-born Manjapra of mixed African and Indian parentage has been shortlisted for 'Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation'.

The prize, now in its 11th year, is open to authors of any nationality based anywhere in the world and working in any language provided the nominated work is available in English and published in the UK. It celebrates research-based works of non-fiction that have made an outstanding contribution to the public understanding of world cultures and the ways in which they interconnect.

"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," said Professor Charles Tripp, Fellow of the British Academy and chair of the 2023 jury.

Ms. Das, in her 40s, is Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture in the English faculty at the University of Oxford. She was brought up in India and studied at Jadavpur University in Kolkata before moving to England for further study. Her shortlisted work has been praised by the judges 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 note.

"As we learn how the Mughals and English understood and misunderstood each other, we appreciate how Das's shifting perspective reveals important insights into global connections and changing power dynamics in this pivotal period of world history," they said.