The Valley of Words Book Awards 2025 has announced its shortlists across eight categories. The winners will be announced at the Valley of Words Literature and Arts Festival to be held in Dehradun on October 25 and 26 and will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a trophy.
For each category, the final shortlist of five books was narrowed down from a longlist of ten. The shortlisted titles of the VoW Book Awards 2025 are:
English Nonfiction
Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India, Karan Madhok
Engineering a Nation: The Life and Career of M Visvesvaraya, Aparajith Ramnath
Iconic Trees of India: 75 Natural Wonders, S Natesh
Rukhmabai: The Life and Times of a Child Bride Turned Rebel-Doctor, Sudhir Chandra
This Land We Call Home: The Story of a Family, Caste, Conversions and Modern India, Nusrat Jafri
English Fiction
Border Crossers, Bhaskar Roy
Island, Sujit Saraf
Never Never Land, Namita Gokhale
Swallowing the Sun, Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri
Hill Songs of Love and Longing, Bijoya Sawian
English Translation
Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada, Shahu Patole, translated from the Marathi by Bhushan Kargaonkar
Lavanyadevi, Kusum Khemani, translated from the Hindi by Banibrata Mahanta
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
White Blood, Nanak Singh, translated from the Punjabi by Dilraj Singh Suri
Hindi Nonfiction
Khaki Mein Sthitpragya, Anil Raturi
Pathik Mein Aravali Ka, Bhanwar Meghwanshi
Bidaay De Maa!, Sudhir Vidyarthi
Hampi: Utkarsh Se Apkarsh Tak, Tapas Chakraborty
Himalaya Ka Itihas, Madan Chandra Bhatt
Hindi Fiction
Atar Duniya Mein Kya Hasil, Pratyaksha
Kandho Par Ghar, Pragya
Zoya Desai Cottage, Pankaj Subir
Vanya, Manisha Kulshrestha
Suno Kabir, Soni Pandey
Hindi Translation
In Love With Death, Satish Modi, translated by Parijat
Khaulta Punjab, Baldev Singh Dhaliwal, translated by Tarsem
Uttar Bharat Mein Chamar Aur Dalit Andolan Ka Itihas, Ramnarayan S Rawat, translated by Kanwal Bharti
Bahattar Meel, Ashok Vatkar, translated by Sulabh Kore
Shiuli Ki Gandh Aur Anya Kahaniya, Taslima Nasrin, translated by Utpal Banerjee
Young Adult Literature
A History of South India for Children, Pradeep Chakravarthy
Art is a Voice, Kripa
Myth, Memory and Folktale of the Wancho Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, Tara Douglas and Jatwang Wangsa
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
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.
