Banaras Lit Fest 2026 Announces Longlist for Prestigious Book Awards

The Banaras Lit Fest has announced the longlist for the 2nd Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards, honouring outstanding literary works published in 2025 across multiple genres and languages. The awards celebrate excellence in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and translation, recognising both authors and translators for their significant contributions to India's vibrant literary landscape.

The longlist features an exceptional selection of books by celebrated writers as well as emerging voices, reflecting the depth, diversity, and dynamism of contemporary Indian writing. With categories such as the Rabindranath Tagore Award for Translation, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction, Ruskin Bond Award for Fiction, and Kabir Award for Poetry, the awards underscore the festival's commitment to celebrating India's multilingual and multicultural literary traditions.

2nd Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards - Longlist (English)

• Ruskin Bond Award for Fiction
• The World With Its Mouth Open - Zahid Rafiq
• Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains - Subi Taba
• Muses Over Mumbai - Murzban S. Shroff
• The Elsewherians: A Documentary - Jeet Thayil
• Our Friends in Good Houses - Rahul Pandita
• Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith - Shinie Antony
• The Tiger's Share - Keshava Guha
• The Burnings - Himanjali Sankar
• Mrs Happily Single - Shubha Sarma
• A Fatal Distraction - Samyukta Bhowmick

Sarojini Naidu Award for Poetry

• Freerain - Easterine Kire
• The Gallery of Upside Down Women - Arundhati Subramaniam
• The Hanuman Chalisa - Abhay K
• Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You - Meena Kandasamy
• So That You Know - Mani Rao
• Coins in Rivers - Rochelle Potkar
• Lone Pine - Siddhartha Menon
• The Art of Unboxing - Neera Kashyap
• A Blur of a Woman - Basudhara Roy
• Mearcstapa: Border Walker - Brainerd Prince

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction

• Father Tongue, Motherland: The Birth of Language in South Asia - Peggy Mohan
• The Call of Music: Eight Stories of Hindustani Musicians - Priya Purushothaman
• Learning from Silence - Pico Iyer
• Candle in the Wind: Stories of True Crime Against Women and Children - Sharmishtha Shenoy
• The Fall of Kabul - Nayanima Basu
• Story of an Unknown Indian - Neha Dixit
• Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia - Sam Dalrymple
• Believer's Dilemma - Abhishek Choudhary
• Charles Correa: Citizen Charles - Mustansir Dalvi
• Song of the Clay Pot: My Journey with the Ghatam - Sumana Chandrashekar

Rabindranath Tagore Award for Translation

• Limited / Unlimited - Sankar
• Translated by Arunava Sinha
• This Place of Mud and Bone - Sanjay Bista
• Translated by Anurag Basnet
• The Dead Fish - Rajkamal Choudhary
• Translated by Mahua Sen
• The Owl, the River, the Valley - Arupa Patangia Kalita
• Translated by Mitra Phukan
• Caste Away - Na. Vanamamalai
• Translated by Joshua Gnanaselvan
• Whose Urdu Is It Anyway? - Rakhshanda Jalil
• Lootaloot - Baburao Bagul
• Translated by Manav Kambli
• The Madhouse: Pagalkhana - Gyan Chaturvedi
• Translated by Punarvasu Joshi
• The Divine Sword - Rita Chowdhury
• Translated from Assamese by Reeta Borbora
• Shabnam - Syed Mujtaba Ali
• Translated by Nazes Afros

2nd Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards - Longlist (Hindi)

Premchand Award for Fiction - LONG LIST (10)

• दूरस्थ दाम्पत्य - ममता कालिया
• हलफ़नामे - राजू शर्मा
• खलल - संतोष दीक्षित
• मतलब हिन्दू - अम्बर पाण्डेय
• अप्रेम और अन्य कहानियाँ - अनिल यादव
• त्रिमाया - मनीषा कुलश्रेष्ठ
• प्रतिरूप - मनोज कुमार पांडेय
• अतर - प्रत्यक्षा
• नया नगर - तस्नीफ़ हैदर
• इश्क़ बाक़ी - पंकज दुबे

Kabir Award for Poetry - LONG LIST (10)

• रंगसाज़ की रसोई - अरुण कमल
• एक अनाम पत्ती का स्मारक - नरेश सक्सेना
• पागल गणितज्ञ की कविताएँ - उदयन वाजपेयी
• जब चीज़ें देर से आती हैं जीवन में - निशांत
• बुद्ध और फराओ - दीपक जायसवाल
• प्रेम के पक्ष में प्रार्थना - कुंदन
• भाषा में नहीं - सपना भट्ट
• मैं गायक बनना चाहता था - हरिओम राजोरिया
• श्रेयसी - विनय कुमार
• नीली ब्याज - अदनान कफ़ील 'दरवेश'

Rahul Sankrityayan Award for Non-Fiction - LONG LIST (10)

• गांधी के बहाने - पराग मांदले
• हिंदी साहित्य के 75 वर्ष: नेहरू युग से मोदी युग तक - सुधीर पचौरी
• भक्ति का लोकवृत्त और रविदास की कविताई - श्रीप्रकाश शुक्ल
• यादों के शिलालेख - सूर्यबाला
• यूँ गुज़री है अब तलक - सीमा कपूर
• जब से आँख खुली है - लीलाधर मंडलोई
• ठाकुरबाड़ी - अनिमेष मुखर्जी
• किसानी की कहानी: बेटी के लिए - सोरित गुप्तो
• दुःख की दुनिया भीतर है - जे. सुशील
• न्यूज़ चैनलों का जनतंत्र - आनंद प्रधान

Mahadevi Verma Award for Translation - LONG LIST (10)

• सभ्यता के कोने - रामचन्द्र गुहा
• अनुवाद: अनिल माहेश्वरी
• जाग तुझको दूर जाना - नमिता गोखले
• अनुवाद: ऐश्वर्य कुमार
• अम्बेडकर : एक जीवन - शशि थरूर
• अनुवाद: अमरेश द्विवेदी
• चरु, चीवर और चर्या - प्रदीप दाश
• अनुवाद: सुजाता शिवेन
• 857 की क्रान्ति का अवध - थॉमस हेनरी कावानाघ
• अनुवादक: राजगोपाल सिंह वर्मा
• बनारस के विस्मृत जननायक : बाबू जगत सिंह - एच. ए. क़ुरेशी, श्रेया पाठक, अनुवादक: शान कश्यप
• अपनी धुन में आत्मकथा लेखक - रस्किन बॉण्ड
• अनुवाद: प्रभात सिंह
• लोकतंत्र की चौकीदारी - स्टीवेन लेवित्सकी, डेनियल ज़िब्लाट
• अनुवाद: अभिषेक श्रीवास्तव
• क्यों नहीं हो सकते हाथी लाल? - वाणी त्रिपाठी टिक्कू
• अनुवाद: अदिति माहेश्वरी-गोयल
• समीर: लफ़्ज़ों के साथ एक सफ़रनामा - डेरेक बोस
• अनुवाद: प्रभात मिलिंद

Deepak Madhok, President of the Banaras Lit Fest, expressed his pride in unveiling the longlist, stating: "As we present the longlist for the second edition of the Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards, we are delighted to celebrate the rich diversity of Indian literature across languages and genres. These shortlisted works reflect the spirit of storytelling, translation, and cultural dialogue that lies at the heart of the Banaras Lit Fest."

Brijesh Singh, Secretary of the Banaras Lit Fest, highlighted the breadth of talent represented in the longlist, saying: "The longlist for the second year of the Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards showcases the exceptional range and depth of contemporary Indian writing and translation.

This year, we received nearly 1,200 nominations from leading publishing houses as well as individual submissions. Our distinguished juries undertook the demanding task of carefully curating this list. These books bring fresh perspectives and significantly enrich the literary landscape. We now eagerly look forward to the announcement of the shortlist."

The shortlist for the Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards 2025 will be announced on January 17, 2026, followed by the announcement of the final winners on January 21, 2026. Winners in each category will receive a cash prize of ₹51,000, along with a trophy and a certificate, to be presented during the festival.

For more information about the Banaras Lit Fest and the Book Awards, please visit the official website or follow the festival on social media platforms.