Stories from the Himalayas in focus to celebrate Uttarakhand’s Silver Jubilee
Dehradun, July 28: Valley of Words (VoW), a not-for-profit organisation devoted to celebrating and honouring exceptional Indian writing and authors, announced the Shortlist for the VoW Book Awards 2025. The awards, across 8 categories, will be presented at the 9th edition of the Valley of Words Literature and Arts Festival to be held in Dehradun on October 25th and 26th, 2025.
Announcing the nominees, Festival Director Dr Sanjeev Chopra said, “This year, we received over 500 entries from 50 publishers for the VoW Book Awards, demonstrating the diversity and depth of the literary scene in India. Since 2025 also marks the 25th year of the state of Uttarakhand’s formation, the shortlist this year is particularly inclusive of stories from the hills.”
For each category, the final shortlist of 5 books was narrowed down from a Longlist of 10 titles. The 40 nominees for the 8 categories of the VoW Book Awards 2025 are:
English Non-fiction:
- Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India by Karan Madhok (Aleph)
- Engineering a Nation: The Life and Career of M. Visvesvaraya by Aparajith Ramnath (Penguin)
- Iconic Trees of India: 75 Natural Wonders by S. Natesh (Roli Books)
- Rukhmabai: The Life and Times of a Child Bride Turned Rebel-Doctor by Sudhir Chandra (Pan Macmillan)
- This Land We Call Home: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions & Modern India by Nusrat Jafri (Penguin)
English Fiction:
- Border Crossers by Bhaskar Roy (Hachette)
- Hill Songs of Love and Longing by Bijoya Sawian (White Falcon)
- Island by Sujit Saraf (Speaking Tiger)
- Never Never Land by Namita Gokhale (Speaking Tiger)
- Swallowing the Sun by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri (Aleph)
English Translation:
- Dalit Kitchens Of Marathwada translated from Shahu Patole’s Marathi original by Bhushan Kargaonkar (HarperCollins)
- Lavanyadevi translated from Kusum Khemani’s Hindi original by Banibrata Mahanta (Orient BlackSwan)
- Ten Days Of The Strike translated from Sandipan Chattopadhyay’s Bangla original by Arunava Sinha (HarperCollins)
- The Temple Of No Gods translated from Manav Kaul’s Hindi original by Sayari Debnath (Penguin)
- White Blood translated from Nanak Singh’s Punjabi original by Dilraj Singh Suri (Hachette)
Hindi Non-Fiction:
- Hampi: Uttkarsh Se Upkarsh Tak by Taapas Chakraborty (Winsar Publications)
- Himalaya ka Itihas by Dr Madan Chandra Bhatt (Radhakrishna)
- Bidaay De Maa by Sudhir Vidyarthi (Rajpal Publications)
- Pathik Main Aravali Ka by Bhanwar Meghwanshi (Rajpal Publications)
- Khaki Mein Sthitapragya: Ek IPS Adhikari ki Smiritiyan avam Anubhav by Anil Raturi (Winsar Publications)
Hindi Fiction:
- Atar: Duniya Mein Kya Haasil by Pratyaksha (Rajkamal Publications)
- Kaandhon Par Ghar by Pragya (Lokbharti)
- Zoya Desai Cottage by Pankaj Subeer (Shivna Publications)
- Vaanya by Manisha Kulshreshtha (Rajkamal Prakashan)
- Suno Kabir by Soni Pandey (Lokbharti Prakashan)
Hindi Translation:
- In Love with Death translated from Satish Modi’s English original by Parijat (Harper Hindi)
- Uttar Bharat Mein Chamar Aur Dalit Aandolan Ka Itihas translated from Ramnarayan S. Rawat’s English original by Kanwal Bharti (Radhakrishna)
- Khaulta Punjab translated from Baldev Singh Dhaliwal’s Punjabi original by Tarsem (Jnanpith Vani Prakashan)
- Bahattar Meel translated from Ashok Vatkar’s Marathi original by Sulabha Kore (Radhakrishna)
- Shiuli Ki Gandh aur Anya Kahaniyan translated from Taslima Nasreen’s Bangla original by Utpal Banerjee (Rajkamal Prakashan)
Young Adult Literature:
- A History of South India for Children by Pradeep Chakravarthy (Hachette)
- art is a voice by Kripa (ArtsIntegrated)
- Myth, Memory & Folktale of the Wancho Tribe of Arunanchal Pradesh by Tara Douglas & Jatwang Wangsa (Niyogi Books)
- PNK Panicker’s Ghost Stories by Suresh Eriyat (Tulika Graphix)
- Raman and Chandrasekhar by Arundhati Venkatesh (Duckbill)
Children’ s Literature:
- A Roof for Norbu by Sujatha Padmanabhan/Labonie Roy (Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust)
- A Tree in My Stomach by Nandita Rao/Charbak Dipta (Big Beetle Books)
- Cactus Wants a Hug by Neil Flory/Simon Yeo (Hachette)
- What Am I Good At? by Rahul Pradhan/Sunaina Coelho (Kalpavriksh)
- Will Goondi Come Home? by Adithi Rao/Fida Hamid (Tulika Publications)
As per the convention at the VoW Book Awards, the Jury for each category largely comprises previous year’s winners of the corresponding category. The 2025 VBA Jury includes names like Manoj Mitta in the English Non-Fiction category, Smriti Ravindra for English Fiction, Dr Jaiwanti Dimri for English Non-Fiction Translation, Uday Prakash for Hindi Fiction, Dr Suresh Pant for Hindi Non-Fiction, Subhash Neerav for Hindi Translation, Shabnam Minwalla for Young Adult Literature and Vibha Batra in the Children’s Literature category.
The award comprises INR 1 lakh and a trophy to each winner, as well as a session at the VoW Festival in Dehradun to held on the 25th-26th of October, 2025.
