The award was instituted in 2015 to honour literary works in English

Winners of Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize for both fiction and non-fiction sections, along with other categories like Popular Choice, Best Cover Design and Literary Achievement in Kannada have been announced. Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line has won in the fiction category while Ashutosh Bhardwaj has won the honour for The Death Script: Dreams and Delusions in Naxal Country under the non-fiction category. Milind Soman’s memoir Made in India: A Memoir, co-written by Roopa Pai has won in popular choice. Ahlawat Gunjan has won for designing the cover of Perumal Murugan’s Rising Heat (translated in English from Tamil by Janani Kannan). This year Janaki Srinivasa Murthy, famously known as Vaidehi, was presented with Literary Achievement in Kannada honour.

The shortlist for various categories was announced last month. The six books under the fiction category were: Bombay Balchão by Jane Borges (Tranquebar), Chorashastra by VJ James, translated by Morley J Nair (Eka), Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (Penguin Random House), Hijab by Guruprasad Kaginele, translated by Pavan N Rao (S&S India), In Search of Heer by Manjul Bajaj (Tranquebar) and The Man Who Learnt to Fly but Could Not Land by Thachom Poyil Rajeevan, translated by PJ Mathew (Hachette, UK). In non-fiction category, the books constituted of Bland Fanatics: Liberals, Race and Empire by Pankaj Mishra (Verso), Let Me Say it Now by Rakesh Maria (Westland), Sebastian and Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers by TM Krishna (Context), Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines by Amandeep Sandhu (Westland), The Death Script: Dreams and Delusions in Naxal Country by Ashutosh Bhardwaj (Fourth Estate India) and Why Men Rape: An Indian Undercover Investigation by Tara Kaushal (HarperCollins). The award was instituted in 2015 to honour literary works in English.