The 2025 Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman shortlist names 10 books across Fiction, Nonfiction and a combined Debut category. The award also includes Lifetime Achievement. The list was announced in October 2025; although the announcement initially scheduled a Delhi ceremony for November 28, later coverage reported that the third-edition ceremony took place in Chennai on January 2, 2026.
Which books are on the 2025 shortlist?
The shortlist includes four nonfiction titles, three fiction titles and three debut titles. The counts below are based on the published list.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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The Only Good Indians: A Novel | $9.34 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner) | $9.08 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Kaikeyi: A Novel | $11.39 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Fahrenheit 451 | $13.58 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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The Widows of Malabar Hill (A Perveen Mistry Novel) | $9.49 | Buy on Amazon |
Nonfiction
- The World After Gaza by Pankaj Mishra (Juggernaut)
- Mujib’s Blunders: The Powers and The Plot Behind His Killing by Manash Ghosh (Niyogi Books)
- The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve by Urmilla Deshpande and Thiago Pinto Barbosa (Speaking Tiger)
- Fallen City: A Double Murder, Political Insanity, and Delhi’s Descent from Grace by Sudeep Chakravarti
Fiction
- Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains by Subi Taba (Penguin)
- Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi (Penguin)
- The Girl with the Seven Lives by Vikas Swarup (Simon & Schuster)
Debut
- The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Penguin)
- The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian by Neha Dixit (Juggernaut)
- Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple (HarperCollins)
What does the Debut category include?
For this edition, debut fiction and debut nonfiction were combined in one category. Fiction and Nonfiction remained separate categories for books by more established writers. The New Indian Express reported that the books considered for the 2025 edition were released between July 2024 and June 2025.
Who selected the shortlist?
The jury was chaired by author and former diplomat Pavan Varma, with author Githa Hariharan and economist Sanjeev Sanyal as members. The New Indian Express reported that the jury selected the winners at a meeting on October 6, 2025. Its account of the process says the TNIE editorial team began longlist curation in July, drawing recommendations from editors at regional centres and from publishers. TNIE Group chairman and managing director Manoj Kumar Sonthalia proposed combining debut fiction and nonfiction while retaining separate categories for established writers.
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When and where was the ceremony?
Scroll’s October 28, 2025 shortlist announcement said the ceremony would be held in Delhi on November 28. That was the announced plan, not the final event date: The New Indian Express reported that the third-edition ceremony was held in Chennai, the TNIE Group’s headquarters, on January 2, 2026. The cited January report does not name the winners, so the shortlist alone should not be treated as a record of who won.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use the shortlist as a reading guide
The categories offer a straightforward way to browse: start with Fiction or Nonfiction, or explore the combined Debut list. For comparisons, readers can consider each title’s subject, form, author and publisher, as well as whether a book is a translation. For example, Heart Lamp is identified as translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi. The published reports provide no consistent review rubric or ranking among the shortlisted books, so placement on the list does not establish which title will suit a particular reader best.
Quick Recap
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Sources
- Scroll, October 28, 2025: shortlist announcement and initially planned ceremony
- The New Indian Express, October 6, 2025: award process, eligibility window and jury
- The New Indian Express, January 2, 2026: ceremony date and location
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