Alpa Shah wins best nonfiction author prize at the AutHer Awards for 'The Incarcerations'.

Professor of Social Anthropology Alpa Shah was announced as the winner of the award for best nonfiction author at the AutHer Awards on Friday, 21 March. The prestigious awards, presented by The Times of India, celebrate the finest writing by women authors across six categories including fiction and nonfiction. This award is the latest accolade for The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India; the book was a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, shortlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing, and featured in the New Statesman ‘Books of the year 2024’ list and the Financial Times ‘What to read in 2024’ list.  

The Incarcerations pulls back the curtain on Indian democracy to tell the remarkable and chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 human rights defenders and intellectuals – professors, lawyers, journalists, poets – were imprisoned, without credible evidence and without trial. Professor Shah will discuss the book with journalist Nick Higham at the Oxford Literary Festival on Thursday 3 April 2025 at 2pm at the Weston Lecture Theatre.  

Tickets are available from the Oxford Literary Festival website