The Shortlists are Out for the Godrej Literature Live Literary Awards, 2026

Mumbai, Oct 15: The shortlists for the Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards for Fiction, Non-Fiction and Business have been announced.  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 the awards ceremony at Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest. 

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

Godrej Literature Live! Book of the Year Shortlist – Fiction

1. Railsong: A Novel by Rahul Bhattacharya, Bloomsbury India

2. The Elsewhereans by Jeet Thayil, HarperCollins Publishers India

3. The Greatest Game: Being The Further Adventures of Kimball O’Hara by Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company

Godrej Literature Live! Book of the Year Shortlist – Non-Fiction

1. A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey byDevesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian, HarperCollins Publishers 

2. Scamlands by Snigdha Poonam, Penguin Random House India

3. The Hindi Heartland: A Study by Ghazala Wahab, Aleph Book Company

Godrej Literature Live! Best First Book Shortlist – Fiction

1. Good Arguments by Deepika Arwind, Simon & Schuster India

2. Lonely People Meet by Sayantan Ghosh, Bloomsbury India

3. The Sirens of September by Zeenat Khan, Penguin Random House India

Godrej Literature Live! Best First Book Shortlist – Non-Fiction

1. Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict by Ipsita Chakravarty, Westland Books

2. The Liver Doctor by Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, HarperCollins Publishers India

3. 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 Shortlist

1. BuildIt: Building Blinkit in an Evolving India by Albinder Singh Dhindsa, HarperCollins Publishers India

2. Running Behind Lakshmi: The Search for Wealth in India's Stock Market by Adil Rustomjee, Hachette India

3. Tatyasaheb: The Story of a Bombay Entrepreneur by Tejaswini Apte-Rahm, Westland Books

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 Conde Nast India and MD, MTV Networks, Advisor, Kochi-Muziris Biennale

3. Iffat Nawaz Author, Essayist and former Humanitarian Worker

4. Lillete 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