AutHer Award 2022: Top nominations and winning entries

The winners of the AutHer Awards 2022 were announced at a gala ceremony at Taj Palace, New Delhi on March 25, 2022. The Times of India and JK Paper joined hands to celebrate women authors who have added value and creativity to the literary space for the third edition of AutHer Awards. The awards ceremony was attended by the who’s who of the town. Authors, academicians, publishers, bureaucrats, politicians, designers, artists and book lovers cheered for the winners, and it was a sight to behold.

Here's a look at the top winners and nominees at the event.

Seen in this picture are (from left to right): historian-author Swapna Liddle (Jury for Non-fiction category), Saba Bashir (Jury for Debut category), author Ravinder Singh (Jury for Debut category), Vinita Dawra Nangia (Literary Director- AutHer Awards), Prasoon Joshi (Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category), Dr Christine Cornet (Jury for Fiction category), Harsh Pati Singhania (Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper), authors Neenv Raju Akunuri, Shranaya Bhattacharya, Jerry Pinto (Jury for Children's literature category), Paro Anand, Devika Cariapa, Meera Rajagopalan, and Saba Bashir.

Author Meera Rajagopalan was nominated in the Best Fiction Category for her novel 'The Eminently Forgettable Life Of Mrs Pankajam', which is published by Hachette India. Here she is being felicitated by Chief Guest- Prasoon Joshi, and Harsh Pati Singhania- Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper.

Author Namita Gokhale was nominated in the Best Fiction Category for her novel 'The Blind Matriarch' which is published by Penguin India. Here she is seen in conversation with Vinita Dawra Nangia, Literary Director- AutHer Awards.

Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni won the AutHer Award 2022 for Best Author Fiction for book 'The Last Queen'. Since Divakaruni is in the USA she couldn't attend the ceremony, and her publishers collected the award on her behalf. Seen in this picture is Udayan Mitra- Executive Publisher at HarperCollins, along with Prasoon Joshi and Harsh Pati Singhania.

Journalist-author Coomi Kapoor was nominated in the Best Non-Fiction Category for her book 'The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas', which is published by Westland Books. In this picture, Kapoor is seen in conversation with Vinita Dawra Nangia, Literary Director- AutHer Awards. Along with them is journalist-author Pallavi Aiyar's mother, Gitanjali Aiyar. Pallavi Aiyar was also nominated in the Best Non-Fiction Category for her book 'Orienting', published by HarperCollins India; her mother Gitanjali Aiyar was at the event on her behalf.

Author Shrayana Bhattacharya won the AutHer Award 2022 for Best Author Non-Fiction for book 'Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh', published by HarperCollins India. In this picture she is being felicitaed by Prasoon Joshi (Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category) and Harsh Pati Singhania (Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper).

Seen in this picture are authors (left to right) Farah Bashir, Urmi Bhattacheryya, and Yashaswini Chandra, who were nominated in Best Non-Fiction Category for AutHer Awards 2022, being felicitated by Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper. Farah Bashir was nominated for 'Rumours of Spring', Urmi Bhattacheryya was nominated for 'After I Was Raped', and Yashaswini Chandra was nominated for 'The Tale of the Horse'.

Author Farah Bashir won the AutHer Award 2022 for 'Rumours of Spring', published by HarperCollins India. The book is Bashir's memoir on growing-up in Kashmir during the 1990s. In this picture she is being felicitaed by Prasoon Joshi, Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category, and Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper.

Jerry Pinto was the Jury-Chair for AutHer Awards- Best Children's Literature Category. Here he is seen on stage with Prasoon Joshi (Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category) and Harsh Pati Singhania (Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper). Along with them are the nominees in Best Children's Literature Category (left to right): Paro Anand for 'Unmasked', Shweta Taneja for 'They Made What? They Found What?', Shabnam Minwalla for 'Murder at Daisy Apartments', Devika Rangachari for 'Queen of Fire', and

Devika Cariapa for 'Uncle Nehru, Please Send An Elephant!'.

Authors Shabnam Minwalla, Paro Anand, Shweta Taneja, Devika Rangachari, Devika Cariapa who were nominated in the Best Children's Literature Category were felicitaed by Prasoon Joshi, Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category, and Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper at the AutHer Awards 2022.

Author Shabnam Minwalla won the AutHer Award 2022- Best Author Children's Literature Category for her book 'Murder at Daisy Apartments' on March 25, 2022. In this picture she is being felicitaed by Prasoon Joshi, Chief Guest and Jury Chair- Fiction Category, and Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper.

Renowned Indian actress Divya Dutta also won the AutHer Award 2022- Special Recognition for her book 'The Stars in My Sky: Those who Brightened My Film Journey', which is published by Penguin Random House India. In this picture Divya Dutta is being felicitated by Vinita Dawra Nangia, Literary Director- AutHer Award, and Harsh Pati Singhania, Vice Chariman-MS, JK Paper.

The Popular Choice Award was won by author Neenv Raju Akunuri for her book 'Silent Screams' for garnering the maximum number of votes online.

Legendary novelist Anita Desai, who has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Since Desai lives in the USA, the award was received on her behalf by her publisher Manasi Subramaniam from Penguin India.

Sharing her views on winning the Lifetime Achievement Award, Desai said in an audio message, "At this great age at which I have arrived, I did not imagine by books would be still be read or remembered. They seemed to me to belong to the past, to the India I was born in and lived in. Now The Times of India has chosen to give me this prestigious award, I am both surprised and immensely grateful to them as well as to my loyal publishers and to readers of the new young generation who have honored my work. If it encourages women writers among them, it will be a matter of great satisfaction for us all and also of pride as my daughter Kiran's writing has so richly proved to be for me. Thank you all very very much."