Longlists Released for the Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards for 2026

Mumbai, 6th October 2026: The longlists for the Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards for Fiction, Non-Fiction and Business have been released. The awards aim to recognise the best of a year’s writing across these categories, from both previously published and debut authors. The awards are keenly awaited each year and the winners will be named on 25 October at a special ceremony at Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest.

The Longlists in each category and the eminent juries that decided the awards are as follows:

Godrej Literature Live! Book of the Year Longlist – Fiction (in alphabetical order):

1. Railsong: A Novel by Rahul Bhattacharya, Bloomsbury India
2. Real Life by Amrita Mahale, Penguin Random House India
3. The Complex by Karan Mahajan, HarperCollins Publishers India
4. The Elsewhereans by Jeet Thayil, HarperCollins Publishers India
5. The Greatest Game: Being The Further Adventures of Kimball O’Hara by Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company
6. The Way Home: Stories by Shanta Gokhale

Godrej Literature Live! Book of the Year Longlist – Non-Fiction (in alphabetical order):

1. A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian, HarperCollins Publishers
2. Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right’s Path to Power, 1977–2018 by Abhishek Choudhary, Pan Macmillan India
3. China’s Wars by Vijay Gokhale
4. Scamlands by Snigdha Poonam, Penguin Random House India
5. The Hindi Heartland: A Study by Ghazala Wahab, Aleph Book Company
6. We, the People of India: Decoding a Nation’s Symbols by T M Krishna

Godrej Literature Live! Best First Book – Fiction Longlist (in alphabetical order):

1. Good Arguments by Deepika Arwind, Simon & Schuster India
2. Lonely People Meet by Sayantan Ghosh, Bloomsbury India
3. The Jasmine Murders: An Uma-Jayan Mystery by Roopa Unnikrishnan, Aleph Book Company
4. The Remnants of Rebellion: A Novel by Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew, Aleph Book Company
5. The Sirens of September by Zeenat Khan, Penguin Random House India
6. The Tree with Eyes and Other Stories by Bela Negi, Westland Books / Tranquebar

Godrej Literature Live! Best First Book – Non-Fiction Longlist (in alphabetical order):

1. Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict by Ipsita Chakravarty, Westland Books
2. The Ambedkar–Nietzsche Provocations: The Genius of the Chandala and the Gospel of the Superman by Ankit Kanade, Navayana Publishing
3. The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past by Soumiya Ashok, Hachette India
4. The Liver Doctor by Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, HarperCollins Publishers India
5. The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music by Sumana Ramanan, Westland Books/Context
6. Wild Wild East: Exiled Americans, Enslaved Indians and the Systemic Abuse of the H-1B Visa Programme by Tanul Thakur, Westland Books/Context

Godrej Literature Live! Business Book of the Year Longlist (in alphabetical order):

1. BuildIt: Building Blinkit in an Evolving India by Albinder Singh Dhindsa, HarperCollins Publishers India
2. Made in India: The Story of Desh Bandhu Gupta, Lupin and Indian Pharma by Manish Sabharwal & Sundeep Khanna, Juggernaut Books
3. Running Behind Lakshmi: The Search for Wealth in India’s Stock Market by Adil Rustomjee, Hachette India
4. OTP Please: Online Buyers, Sellers and Gig Workers in South Asia by Vandana Vasudevan, Penguin Random House India
5. Tatyasaheb: The Story of a Bombay Entrepreneur by Tejaswini Apte-Rahm, Westland Books
6. The Niche Code: Building Big Businesses in Small Markets by Rajeev Roy, Pan Macmillan India

Juries for the awards:

Each award category is decided by an eminent jury. The juries for 2026 were as follows:

Fiction:

1. Akarsh Khurana, Theatre and Film Director, Actor, Writer, and Artistic Director, Akvarious Productions.
2. Alex Kuruvilla, Former Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Condé Nast India, and MD, MTV Networks, Advisor, Kochi-Muziris Biennale
3. Iffat Nawaz, Author, Essayist and former Humanitarian Worker
4. Lillette Dubey, Actor, Theatre Director, Founder and Artistic Director, The Primetime Theatre Company
5. Shireen Mistry, Communications Professional and Associate Festival Director, Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest

Non-Fiction:

1. A. N. Roy, Former Director General of Police, Maharashtra, Former Mumbai Police Commissioner
2. Maneck Davar Publisher, Media Entrepreneur, Chairman & Managing Director, Spenta Multimedia
3. Sharon Coutinho Solicitor, Corporate Lawyer, Lifecoach
4. Sonal Shah Chairperson, Yusuf Meherally Centre, Trustee, Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association
5. Tina Nagpaul, Filmmaker, Writer and Associate Festival Director, Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest

Business:

1. Anjali Raina Executive Director, Harvard Business School India Research Center, and Independent Director on several boards
2. Anita Bhogle Author, Motivational Speaker, Co-founder Prosearch Consultants
3. Govind Sankaranarayanan Financial Services Leader, Entrepreneur, Co-founder and COO, Ecofy
4. Vivek Hurry Financial Consultant, Entrepreneur, and Director, Squirrel Enterprises
5. Zia Hajeebhoy Entrepreneur, Leadership Coach, and Director, Aquasail India