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):
- Railsong: A Novel by Rahul Bhattacharya, Bloomsbury India
- Real Life by Amrita Mahale, Penguin Random House India
- The Complex by Karan Mahajan, HarperCollins Publishers India
- The Elsewhereans by Jeet Thayil, HarperCollins Publishers India
- The Greatest Game: Being The Further Adventures of Kimball O’Hara by Stephen Alter, Aleph Book Company
- The Way Home: Stories by Shanta Gokhale
Godrej Literature Live! Book of the Year Longlist – Non-Fiction (in alphabetical order):
- A Sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian, HarperCollins Publishers
- Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right’s Path to Power, 1977–2018 by Abhishek Choudhary, Pan Macmillan India
- China’s Wars by Vijay Gokhale
- Scamlands by Snigdha Poonam, Penguin Random House India
- The Hindi Heartland: A Study by Ghazala Wahab, Aleph Book Company
- 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):
- Good Arguments by Deepika Arwind, Simon & Schuster India
- Lonely People Meet by Sayantan Ghosh, Bloomsbury India
- The Jasmine Murders: An Uma-Jayan Mystery by Roopa Unnikrishnan, Aleph Book Company
- The Remnants of Rebellion: A Novel by Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew, Aleph Book Company
- The Sirens of September by Zeenat Khan, Penguin Random House India
- 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):
- Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict by Ipsita Chakravarty, Westland Books
- The Ambedkar–Nietzsche Provocations: The Genius of the Chandala and the Gospel of the Superman by Ankit Kanade, Navayana Publishing
- The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past by Soumiya Ashok, Hachette India
- The Liver Doctor by Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, HarperCollins Publishers India
- The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music by Sumana Ramanan, Westland Books/Context
- 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):
- BuildIt: Building Blinkit in an Evolving India by Albinder Singh Dhindsa, HarperCollins Publishers India
- Made in India: The Story of Desh Bandhu Gupta, Lupin and Indian Pharma by Manish Sabharwal & Sundeep Khanna, Juggernaut Books
- Running Behind Lakshmi: The Search for Wealth in India’s Stock Market by Adil Rustomjee, Hachette India
- OTP Please: Online Buyers, Sellers and Gig Workers in South Asia by Vandana Vasudevan, Penguin Random House India
- Tatyasaheb: The Story of a Bombay Entrepreneur by Tejaswini Apte-Rahm, Westland Books
- 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:
- Akarsh Khurana, Theatre and Film Director, Actor, Writer, and Artistic Director, Akvarious Productions.
- Alex Kuruvilla, Former Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Condé Nast India, and MD, MTV Networks, Advisor, Kochi-Muziris Biennale
- Iffat Nawaz, Author, Essayist and former Humanitarian Worker
- Lillette Dubey, Actor, Theatre Director, Founder and Artistic Director, The Primetime Theatre Company
- Shireen Mistry, Communications Professional and Associate Festival Director, Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest
Non-Fiction:
- A. N. Roy, Former Director General of Police, Maharashtra, Former Mumbai Police Commissioner
- Maneck Davar Publisher, Media Entrepreneur, Chairman & Managing Director, Spenta Multimedia
- Sharon Coutinho Solicitor, Corporate Lawyer, Lifecoach
- Sonal Shah Chairperson, Yusuf Meherally Centre, Trustee, Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association
- Tina Nagpaul, Filmmaker, Writer and Associate Festival Director, Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest
Business:
- Anjali Raina Executive Director, Harvard Business School India Research Center, and Independent Director on several boards
- Anita Bhogle Author, Motivational Speaker, Co-founder Prosearch Consultants
- Govind Sankaranarayanan Financial Services Leader, Entrepreneur, Co-founder and COO, Ecofy
- Vivek Hurry Financial Consultant, Entrepreneur, and Director, Squirrel Enterprises
- Zia Hajeebhoy Entrepreneur, Leadership Coach, and Director, Aquasail India