Celebrating stories

Nidhi Gupta, Director at Crossword Bookstores, on the evolving impact of the Crossword Book Awards, reading culture in India, and more

- Manasi Y Mastakar

For over two decades, the Crossword Book Awards have celebrated the best of Indian writing and helped bring readers and authors closer than ever.

What began as a vision to recognise outstanding books from across the country has today grown into a much-loved literary tradition that encourages new voices, supports regional stories and keeps India’s reading culture thriving. In an interview with The Free Press Journal, Nidhi Gupta, Director at Crossword Bookstores, shares how the awards, held on December 3, 2025, in Mumbai, continue to evolve, inspire and champion the joy of reading in a changing world.

Excerpts from the interview:

The Crossword Book Awards have been around for years. What was the original vision behind the awards, and how has its legacy evolved?

The Crossword Book Awards were visualised with a very clear and ambitious vision: to create India’s own definitive and most popular literary honour that would not just recognise and reward the finest Indian writers and their works, but also bring these books to the forefront of public consciousness, establishing a benchmark for literary excellence and celebrating the reader-writer connection. Its legacy has beautifully evolved from primarily being an industry honour to becoming a truly people-driven movement, cemented by the success of the Popular Choice and Jury, which ensures that the Awards remain a vital, dual-faceted platform for critical discovery and mass appeal. While the scale has expanded, the core purpose remains unchanged: to honour outstanding Indian literature and strengthen the country's reading culture.

How do these awards help nurture India’s reading ecosystem?