Valley of Words Book Awards announces its 2025 longlists across eight categories

Valley of Words Book Awards has announced its 2025 longlists in eight categories: English Fiction, English Nonfiction, English Translation, Hindi Fiction, Hindi Nonfiction, Hindi Translation, Young Adult Literature, and Children’s Literature. The shortlist will be announced by July 30, and the shortlisted authors and translators will be invited to the 2025 Valley of Words International Literature and Arts Festival in Dehradun. The winners will be announced at an event during the festival.

Here are the longlisted books in each category:

English fiction

• Border Crossers, Bhaskar Roy

• From Pashas to Pokemon, Maaria Sayed

• General Firebrand and His Red Atlas, Tathagata Bhattacharya

• Hill Songs of Love and Longing, Bijoya Sawian

• Into the Forest, Avtar Singh

• Island, Sujit Saraf

• Never Never Land, Namita Gokhale

• Rosarita, Anita Desai

• Swallowing the Sun, Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri

• The Scent of Himalayas, Mona Verma

English nonfiction

• Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India, Karan Madhok

• Engineering a Nation: The Life and Career of M Visvesvaraya, Aparajith Ramnath

• From The King’s Table to Street Food: A Food History of Delhi, Pushpesh Pant

• Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Anand Teltumbde

• Iconic Trees of India: 75 Natural Wonders, S Natesh

• Nehru’s First Recruits: The Diplomats Who Built Independent India’s Foreign Policy, Kallol Bhattacherjee

• Provincials: Postcards from the Peripheries, Sumana Roy

• Rukhmabai: The Life and Times of a Child Bride Turned Rebel-Doctor, Sudhir Chandra

• The Fifteen: The Lives and Times of the Women in India’s Constituent Assembly, Angellica Aribam and Akash Satyawali

• This Land We Call Home: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions and Modern India, Nusrat Jafri

English translation

• Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada, Shahu Patole, translated from the Marathi by Bhushan Kargaonkar

• Do Not Ask the River Her Name, Sheela Tomy, translated from the Malayalam by Ministhy S

• I’m Alive… For Now, Imayam, translated from the Tamil by Prabha Sridevan

• Ismat Chughtai In Her Own Words, Ismat Chughtai, translated from the Urdu by Tahira Naqvi

• Lavanyadevi, Kusum Khemani, translated from the Hindi by Banibrata Mahanta

• Shabnam, Syed Mujtaba Ali, translated from the Bengali by Nazes Afroz

• Ten Days of the Strike, Sandipan Chattopadhyay, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha

• A Temple of No Gods, Manav Kaul, translated from the Hindi by Sayari Debnath

• Under the Bakul Tree, Mrinal Kalita, translated from the Assamese by Partha Pratim Goswami

• White Blood, Nanak Singh, translated from the Punjabi by Dilraj Singh Suri

Hindi fiction

• Atarh Duniya Mein Kya Hasil, Pratyaksha

• Kandho Par Ghar, Pragya (लोकभारती द्वारा प्रकाशित)

• Kissagram, Prabhat Ranjan

• Chot, Chandan Pandey

• Jungli Phoolon Si Ladki, Anulata Raj Nair

• Zoya Desai Cottage, Pankaj Subir

• Vanya, Manisha Kulshrestha

• Vang Chi, Manish Vaidya

• Sama-Chakva, Gitashree

• Suno Kabir, Soni Pandey

Hindi translation

• Aaptkal Aakhyan, Gyan Prakash, translated by Mihir Pandya

• Aarohi, Mukul Kumar

• In Love With Death, Satish Modi, translated by Parija

• Khaulta Punjab, Baldev Singh Dhaliwal, translated by Tarsem

• Uttar Bharat Mein Chamar Aur Dalit Andolan Ka Itihas, Ramnarayan S Rawat, translated by Kanwal Bharti

• Balidan: Bharat Mein Special Forces Ke Mahan Yodhyao Ki Kahaniyan, Swapnil Pandey, translated by Ketan Mishra

• Bahattar Meel, Ashok Vatkar, translated by Sulabh Kore

• Rashtra Aur Naitikata, Rajeev Bhargava, translated by Abhishek Srivastava

• Shiuli Ki Gandh Aur Anya Kahaniya, Taslima Nasrin, translated by Utpal Banerjee

• Himalaya Ek Khoj: Lama, Sant, aur Nastik, Namita Gokhale, translated by Prabhat Ranjan

Hindi nonfiction

• Khaki Mein Sthitpragya, Anil Raturi

• Garhwal Aur Pratham Vishwayuddh, Devesh Joshi

• Garhwali Bhasha Aur Sahitya, Srijana Rana

• Pathik Mein Aravali Ka, Bhanwar Meghwanshi

• Bidaay De Maa!, Sudhir Vidyarthi

• Mahaviri Devi: 1857 Ki Kranti Ki Mahaan Virangana, Praveen Kumar

• Manse Ki Jaat, Sujata Paramita

• Hampi: Utkarsh Se Apkarsh Tak, Tapas Chakravarti

• Hum Aur Humara Nyaytantra, Yaksh

• Himalaya Ka Itihas, Madan Chandra Bhatt

Young adult literature

• A History of South India for Children, Pradeep Chakravarthy

• Art is a Voice, Kripa

• Boons and Curses in Hindu Mythology, Sunita Pant Bansal

• Everything Sucks, Andaleeb Wajid

• 565: The Dramatic Story of Unifying India, Mallika Ravikumar

• Kahanipuram, Samir Ganguly

• Myth, Memory and Folktale of the Wancho Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, Tara Douglas and Jatwang Wangsa

• Persian Nights: An Indian Child in Iran, Alaka Rajan Skinner

• PNK Panicker’s Ghost Stories, Suresh Eriyat

• Raman and Chandrasekhar, Arundhati Venkatesh

Children’s literature

• A Roof for Norbu, Sujatha Padmanabhan and Labonie Roy

• A Tree in My Stomach, Nandita Rao and Charbak Dipta

• Cactus Wants a Hug, Neil Flory and Simon Yeo

• Ganesh Pyne’s Twilight Dreams, Vaishali Shroff and Priya Kuriyan

• Lal Pari aur Chota Pankh: Red Fairy and the Tiny Wing, Deepak Heera Rangnath and Priyankar Gupta

• Master of the 7 Swars, Pratyush Gupta

• Saurmandal ki Sair Champu’s Trip to Outerspace, Alankrita Amaya and Devika Oza

• Shhhhhssss Listen! Even Sarees Speak!, Devyani Mungali

• What Am I Good At?, Rahul Pradhan and Sunaina Coelho

• Will Goondi Come Home?, Adithi Rao and Fida Hamid

Disclosure: Arunava Sinha is the editor of Scroll’s Books and Ideas section. Sayari Debnath is Senior Writer at Scroll.