Shortlists Announced for the Godrej Literature Live Literary Awards for 2025

Mumbai, 29th October 2025: The shortlists for the Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards for Fiction, Non-Fiction and Business have been released. The awards aim to recognise and encourage literary talent across these genres, among both established and new writers. The awards are one of the highlights of the annual Mumbai LitFest.  The winners will be announced at the festival’s finale on 9th November 2025.

The Shortlist in each category (in alphabetical order), and the eminent juries that decided the awards are as follows:

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

1. Island by Sujit Saraf (Speaking Tiger)
2. Rising Sons by Kavery Nambisan (Penguin Random House India)
3. The Last Knot by Shabir Ahmad Mir (Pan Macmillan India)

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

1. Golwalkar: The Myth Behind the Man, The Man Behind the Machine by Dhirendra K Jha (Simon and Schuster India)
2. The Identity Project: The Unmaking of a Democracy by Rahul Bhatia (Westland Books)
3. The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India by Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Aleph Book Company)

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

1. Hot Water by Bhavika Govil (HarperCollins Publishers India)
2. The Dead Know Nothing by Kishore Ram (Penguin Random House India)
3. The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Penguin Random House India)

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

1. Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan (Westland Books)
2. The Lost Heer: Women in Colonial Punjab by Harleen Singh (Penguin Random House India)
3. The Lucky Ones: A Memoir by Zara Chowdhary (Westland Books)

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

1. A Fly on the RBI Wall: An Insider’s View of the Central Bank by Alpana Killawala (Rupa Publications)
2. Ratan Tata: A Life by Thomas Mathew (HarperCollins Publishers India)
3. The Money Trap: Grand Fortunes and Lost Illusions Inside the Tech Bubble by Alok Sama (Pan Macmillan India)

Juries for the awards: Each award category is decided by an eminent jury. The juries for 2025 were as follows:

Fiction:

1. Akhil Katyal, Poet, translator, author, and activist
2. Anil Menon, Author and editor
3. Dolly Thakore, Theatre artiste, casting director and author
4. K. Srilata, Poet, translator, author and academician
5. Shireen Mistry, Communications professional and Associate Festival Director, Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest  

Non-Fiction:

1. 1. Ajit Ranade, Economist, academician and public commentator
   2. Ayaz Memon, Journalist, columnist, editor and author
   3. Jean Da Cunha, Sociologist, author, former UN Official
   4. Nirupama Subramanian, Journalist, editor and author

• Tina Nagpaul, Filmmaker and Associate Festival Director, Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 

Business:

1. Alka Puri, Philanthropy and social impact leader; SVP India partner
2. Bhaskar Dasgupta, Fintech and regulatory strategist and policy advisor
3. Kavita Hurry, Banking strategist and business consultant, ING
4. Manisha Girotra, Investment banking leader, CEO Moelis India
5. Sitaraman Shankar, Journalist, columnist, editor; CEO, IIMBx

Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will be held from 7-9 November 2025 at the NCPA at Nariman Point.