COIMBATORE LITERARY AWARDS MAKES A MARK ON INDIA’S LITERARY LANDSCAPE

Chirdeep Malhotra . Updated: 11/24/2020 1:02:38 PM Books and Authors

The first edition of Coimbatore Literary Awards was held virtually

The first edition of Coimbatore Literary Awards was held virtually on 15th November, 2020. These are awards bestowed for literary merit and excellence in the writing field. The event featured books on eclectic topics and from diverse genres. It was organized by Mark-Fly Publishers from Coimbatore, founded by Akshay Sharma.

Akshay Sharma, Director of the event said, “The main objective was to bring the talented and deserving authors to the limelight. Mark-Fly Publishers’ primary vision and point was to bring the city of Coimbatore to the ‘Literature map’ of India.” Being an author himself, having written the book “The Flying Dreams”, he wants to create an enduring cultural legacy to spread the essence and caliber of Indian literature all around the world.

He further added, “The city of Coimbatore has always been rich in its Literature and Heritage, but despite this, no such literary fests or awards have been organized in the city. I used various marketing strategies through my publishing house Mark-Fly Ventures, to publicise Coimbatore Literary Awards in other Indian cities and myriad literary circles”.

This virtual event received 75 entries, most of them from India, and a few from abroad. However, only 50 books were nominated in the CLA, with 10 winners and 6 runners-up bagging the prestigious trophies. The award categories were Best Fiction (which included the genres of Thriller, General, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, and Poetry), along with awards for Best Non-Fiction and Best Self-Help books.

Malathi Ramachandran won in the category of Best Fiction – Historical category for her book “Mandu: The Romance of Roopmati and Baz Bahadur”, while Sarang Mahajan won in the category of Best Fiction – Fantasy for his book “Inkredia”. “Arya’s Hunting Ground” by Arvind Narsima won in the category of Best Fiction – Thriller, and “Destiny Played It Well” by Neha Mittal won Best Fiction – Romance.

The other winning books of various genres are – In poetry, “Obsessed With The Dawns” by Samina Mushtaq Khan; In Best Fiction – General, “Endurer: A Rape Story” by Kapil Raj; “The 7 am Chronicles” by Indraneel Majumdar in Best Non-fiction category; and “A Blue Moon Interlude” by Viji Venkat in the mystery genre.

The book “The Unsolved Case of an Indian woman” by Puneeth JH won the Best psychological thriller, and “Chaos, Theos, Cosmos” by Kosha Shah Chandaria won in category of Self-Help.

The jury members said that the winning books astounded them, as they had unique writing styles, portrayed vivid worlds, featured complex characters, and delved into original ideas.

The event was well supported by Twell Team, headed by Mr. Deepak Tater Jain, from the very beginning. The winner in each category got a special display at the premium book store, Odyssey; along with publishing deals from Mark-Fly Publishers.

With the first edition of the awards being held virtually, the organizer Akshay Sharma said, “Coimbatore Literary Awards is now going to be an annual event”. The readers are definitely in for a delight, for this connotes more new ideas and literary discoveries from India’s contemporary literary scene.


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