Publishing some of the most iconic books in Indian literature, Penguin celebrates 35 years in India

Kolkata, October 11: Season festivities continue for the country’s leading publishing house as it celebrates a milestone anniversary.

Penguin Random House India turns 35 this year. This marks 35 years of publishing some of the most iconic books in Indian literature, discovering some of the most brilliant authors from India and the South Asian region and becoming one of the most beloved publishers of readers.

Commenting on the anniversary, Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO of Penguin Random House India & SEA, said: “When you look at India’s literary history, 35 may not seem like such a big milestone. But it is indeed a proud moment for Penguin to have succeeded in adding value to a country as diverse and multicultural as ours. We started in India in 1987 with only six titles. By 2022, we’ve grown our list of local publications to over 3,000 and brought over 50,000 international titles to our local readers.

Over the years we have featured many award-winning books, discovered and published some of the greatest writers of our time, and most recently our books have made global headlines with the win of the Booker International Prize and the nomination of the Booker Prize for Fiction. It is indeed a privilege that our readers have granted us, encouraging us to do better and more.
To kick off the celebrations of this historic occasion, Penguin is proud to launch a special campaign – #BookedByPenguin: a pun that captures Penguin’s impact on the literary and publishing world. From books to published authors, from corporate talent to readers who love our brand, #BookedByPenguin invites everyone who is already connected to Penguin to join us as we come live to all of our platforms in the form of engaging content, competition,
and gifts from October 10.

The integrated campaign also has online and offline components in all regions of the country. Chain stores and independent bookstores also joined us in celebrating this milestone anniversary. #BookedByPenguin is also launching privileged partnerships that will spread the pleasure of reading.

“In collaboration with Books on the Delhi Metro (BODM), a non-profit initiative, we will make metro rides even more exciting where people will find books at unsuspecting places in the metro and also have the option to pay next. So, search social media for tips and advice for the chance to get your hands on a Penguin book,’ according to a press release here on Tuesday.
Commemorating these eventful three and a half decades in the country, Penguin also announced the release of an exclusive series of anniversary editions of some of the most iconic books published during those years.

An eclectic catalog made up of 35 books that have all left a lasting mark on our libraries and our literary landscape. From literary fiction, romance, thrillers, narrative non-fiction, business, history and minority voices, this new collector’s edition series will have something for everyone.
With attractive new looks and covers, these books will be available in bookstores nationwide and online from November. In addition to the Collector’s Editions, readers will also have the opportunity to take home exclusive Penguin Anniversary memorabilia available at bookstores nationwide to gift with the Collector’s Editions.

Penguin is also committed to giving back to the community by donating 10,000 books through our various partners who serve and help those in need. The Community Library Project helps bring our books to first-generation readers and those who don’t have easy access to books. This is in line with our vision to promote the habit of reading among the people of our country.

Penguin was established in India in 1985 and began printing in 1987. Random House was launched in India with its publishing program in 2005 and distribution operations in 2009. Penguin Random House was the result of a merger in 2013 when the two global publishing houses came together and became one of the largest English commercial publishers and became one of the most recognized names in the industry.

Over time, in India and parts of the subcontinent, it has become home to some of the greatest writers of our time including Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Sudha Murty, Ruskin Bond, Khushwant Singh, former President of India, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, Ramchandra Guha, Satyajit Ray, Jhumpa Lahiri, Siddhartha Mukherjee and Salman Rushdie to name a few. Many have won virtually every major literary award, including the Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, Magsaysay Prize and
the Jnanpith Prize. Our authors have also been recipients of Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest civilian honours.

Apart from bringing Indian literature to the world, Penguin has also brought world literature to the Indian subcontinent and South Asia since then. Over the years, we’ve featured over 1.5 million titles from world-renowned publishers such as Faber, Canongate, Fitzcaraldo Editions, Walker Books, Ingram, Harvard Business Review, Columbia University Press, Princeton University Press and more. others, as well as with books published by our group companies in the US and UK. In India, our international portfolio includes works by Nobel laureates, Booker Prize winners and best-selling authors such as former President of the United States Barack Obama, former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, Dan Brown, Yuval Noah Harari, Jeff Kinney, Rick Riordan, Roald Dahl, Margaret Atwood, Harper Lee, Stephen Hawking, Elif Shafak, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami and late Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux.

In 2018, Penguin also opened its publishing operations in Southeast Asia with the launch of Penguin Random House SEA (PRH SEA), which is in line with our commitment to championing local publishing in Asia. Based in Singapore, over these few years, PRH SEA has rapidly risen to prominence as a platform for literary voices in the fiction and non-fiction categories for English-speaking Singaporean adults and children and from Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (Burma). His books have won accolades and awards, such as the Singapore Book Awards, and he has reintroduced Southeast Asian classics into mainstream literature with English translations for the first time.