RENOWNED Indian author Amitav Ghosh was on Tuesday (10) shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding 2024, a leading international non-fiction prize worth £25,000, now in its 12th year.
The prize is open to authors of any nationality based anywhere in the world and working in any language, provided the nominated work is available in the English language.
Ghosh's ‘Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories' is in the running along with five other international titles.
The US-based, Kolkata-born author was hailed by judges for his “storytelling skills to bring to life this highly readable travelogue, memoir and history”.
“In ‘Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories', Amitav Ghosh draws on decades of archival research for his Ibis Trilogy novels to trace the economic and cultural impact of the global opium trade from the 18th century to the present-day opium crisis and the oxycontin scandal in the USA,” a British Academy Book Prize statement said.
The other authors shortlisted for this year's prize include Ed Conway for ‘Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future'; Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell for ‘The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics & Its Unsung Trailblazers'.
The other shortlisted authors are Marcy Norton for ‘The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492'; Ross Perlin for ‘Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues'; and Annabel Sowemimo for ‘Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare'.
Chair of the judges, Professor Charles Tripp, Fellow of the British Academy, said, “This year's exceptional shortlist highlights a wide range of topics: the secret world of raw materials; race and the healthcare system; endangered languages; a global history of the opium trade; the origins of mathematics and its unsung trailblazers; and relationships between humans and animals in the context of colonisation.
“We were greatly impressed by the quality of writing and the depth of research, but also by the lengths our writers are prepared to go to highlight urgent global issues and to honour those who have made a difference. At a time when it feels as if global cultural understanding is somewhat lacking, we hope the British Academy Book Prize and these six books will play a part in changing the way we perceive our shared world," he said.
Tripp is joined on the 2024 judging panel by journalist and broadcaster Ritula Shah; Professor Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University; Professor Rebecca Earle, food historian and Professor of History at the University of Warwick; and former BBC foreign correspondent Bridget Kendall.
The winner of this year's £25,000 prize will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on October 22, with each of the shortlisted writers to receive £1,000.
Last year's winner was Indian-origin author Nandini Das for ‘Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire'.
A digital exhibition of photographs by Kolkata-based artist, curator and educator Arko Datto was specially commissioned to bring to life the themes of Das' winning title, which is being showcased at the British Academy as part of London's Open House Festival on Sunday.
“It has been exhilarating for me to see aspects of the book refracted through Arko's lens as he moved through some of the same spaces that I had approached primarily through 400-year-old records. At the same time, it has reminded me repeatedly – with precision, empathy, and humour – how closely the past and the present are interwoven into the very fabric of everyday life in present-day India,” said Das.
The British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)