Banaras Lit Fest 2026 Announces Longlist for Prestigious Book Awards

Press Release

oi-Oneindia English Desk

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