Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman 2026 announces longlists in fiction, nonfiction, debut categories

The 2026 edition of the Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman will be awarded in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Debut (including both fiction and nonfiction titles), and Lifetime Achievement. The longlist was announced on Monday.

The winners, including the Lifetime Achievement award, will be announced at the award ceremony later this year.

Fiction

• Ghost Eye, Amitav Ghosh

• Fieldwork as a Sex Object, Meena Kandasamy

• The Last of Earth, Deepa Anappara

• August 17, S Hareesh, translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil

• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Kiran Desai

• Once Elephants Lived Here, Geetanjali Shree, translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell

• Absolute Jafar, Sarnath Banerjee

• Railsong, Rahul Bhattacharya

• The Courtesan, Her Lover and I, Tarana Husain Khan

• The Menon Investigation, Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari

Best Nonfiction

• Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy

• God’s Own Empire: The Extraordinary Life of Marthanda Varma of Travancore, Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat

• Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us: The Psychology of Indians, Manu Joseph

• The Hindi Heartland: A Study, Ghazala Wahab

• Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right’s Path to Power, 1977–2018, Abhishek Choudhary

• Scamlands: Inside the Asian Empire of Fraud that Preys on the World, Snigdha Poonam

• Hindutva and Hind Swaraj: History’s Forgotten Doubles, Makarand R Paranjape

• Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata in the Western Deccan: Exploring Kingship and Religious Identity (c. 4th–14th century), Prachi Sharma

Best Debut

• Allah Miyan’s Workshop, Mohsin Khan, translated from the Urdu by Maaz Bin Bilal

• Never Logged Out: How the Internet Created India’s Gen Z, Ria Chopra

• The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past, Sowmiya Ashok

• The Man from Kashmir, Muddasir Ramzan

• Badass Begums: The Incredible Women Who Shaped Mughal India, Anoushka Jain

• The Remnants...

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