The winners of the 2025 Women AutHer Awards, presented by The Times of India, were announced on Friday, March 21. The awards are presented to Indian women writers in four categories – fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature, and debut – as well as the popular choice and manuscript categories. The winners were chosen by juries, and, in the case of the popular choice, through online voting. The winning authors received cash prizes of Rs 1 lakh each, with the amount being shared equally by joint winners.
Author and translator Shanta Gokhale was awarded this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her “timeless contribution” to Indian writing.
The winners and shortlisted books are:
Fiction
The jury for fiction comprised Esther David, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, and Trisha Das.
Winners:
Never Never Land, Namita Gokhale, Speaking Tiger Books
Loot: A Novel, Tania James, Penguin Random House
Shortlisted titles:
Tara, Koral Dasgupta, Pan MacMillan India
Of Mothers and Other Perishables, Radhika Oberoi, Simon and Schuster India
The Women Who Would Not Die, Uddipana Goswami, Speaking Tiger Books
Nonfiction
The jury for nonfiction comprised Ganesh N Devy, Manu S Pillai, and Shrayana Bhattacharya.
Winners:
The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India, Alpa Shah, HarperCollins India
The Personal Is Political: An Activist’s Memoir, Aruna Roy, HarperCollins India
Other shortlisted titles:
India’s Forgotten Country: A View From the Margins, Bela Bhatia, Penguin India
Sheikh Abdullah: The Caged Lion of Kashmir, Chitralekha Zutshi, HarperCollins India
Debut
The jury for debut comprised Anita Nair, Sutapa Basu, and Suvir Saran.
Winner: The Fall of Kabul: Despatches from Chaos, Nayanima Basu, Bloomsbury India
Other shortlisted titles:
The Fertile Earth, Ruthvika Rao, Penguin India
The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian, Neha Dixit, Juggernaut
Children’s literature
The jury for children’s literature comprised Priya Dutt, Anasuya Vaidya, and Devashish Makhija.
Winners:
Art is a Voice, Kripa, Ekalavya
The Henna Start-up, Andaleeb Wajid, Duckbill
Other shortlisted titles:
The School for Bad Girls, Madhurima Vidyarthi, Duckbill
565: The Dramatic Story of Unifying India, Mallika Ravikumar, Hachette India
Men of Steel: Bravehearts of the Indian Military, Tanushree Podder, Penguin India
