On March 19, 2023 in New Delhi, a gala event marked the announcement of the winners of the fourth edition of the AutHer Awards. Four main categories—fiction, non-fiction, debut, and children’s literature—were each awarded awards. Publisher HarperCollins India won the AutHer Awards this year as well, making it two years in a succession!

The Times of India and JK Paper collaborated to create the AutHer Awards, which honours Indian women writers who have contributed to the literary world with their ingenuity and value. As the evening’s chief guest, veteran actress Shabana Azmi congratulated the award recipients.

The winners for AutHer Awards 2023 are:
1. Best Author Fiction won by Janice Pariat for her novel ‘Everything the Light Touches’, published by HarperCollins India.
2. Best Author Non-Fiction award was won by eminent journalist Barkha Dutt for her book ‘To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID’, published by Juggernaut Books.
3. Best Author Debut Award was won by Vauhini Vara for her novel ‘The Immortal King Rao’, published by HarperCollins India.
4. Best Children’s Author Award was given to two women writers this year. Bijal Vachharajani won the award for her book ‘Savi and the Memory Keeper’ (published by Hachette India), and Vaishali Shroff won the award for her book ‘Batata, Pao and All Things Portuguese’ (published by The People Place Project).

It should be mentioned that this year, HarperCollins India’s books won in two of the four major categories, namely Fiction and Debut. HarperCollins India is the distributor that received the most AutHer Awards this year as a result.

HarperCollins India-published works triumphed in three of the four categories at the AutHer Awards 2022, including fiction, non-fiction, and debut.

Vaishnavi Roy received the Popular Choice AutHer Award 2023 for “Unwind,” which was released by The Write Order. On the premise of online voting, the award was given.

In addition, seasoned author Shashi Deshpande received the Lifetime Achievement Award this year for her significant impact to Indian English-language writing.
To learn more, go to www.autherawards.in.