The Valley of Words Book Awards 2026 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 November 28 and 29 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 2026 are:
English nonfiction
English fiction
English translation
-
Sita’s Veil, Anamika, translated from the Hindi by Nishtha Gautam
-
The Bitter Fruit Tree and Other Stories, Prakash Parienkar, translated from the Konkani by Vidya Pai
-
My Last Autobiography, Rajendra Banahatti, translated from the Marathi by Jerry Pinto
-
The Dark Hours of the Night, Salma, translated from the Thamizh by GJV Prasad
-
The Blue Potter: The Creative Genius of Punjab, Ajeet Cour, translated from the Punjabi by Sushmindar Jeet Kaur
Young adult literature
-
A Patch of Sun, A Patch of Shade, Vidya Nesarikar
-
The White Lotus, Aditi Krishnakumar
-
Naach, Navnit Nirav
-
Giants, Huthuka Sumi
-
Udne Waala Phool, Upasana
Children’s books
-
What’s the Point of KIKI?, Nandita da Cunha
-
The Night Sky, Samina Mishra
-
Rain Perfume, Niveditha Reddy
-
Amma’s Magic Handbag, Vaishali BK
-
The Damroo Man and the Monkey Gang, Ishan Trivedi
Hindi nonfiction
-
Rashtra Nirman Mein Adivasi, Jitendra Meena
-
Chor Gali Me Titliyan, Jiten Thakur
-
Chandan Kiwad, Malini Awasthi
-
Yayavar Ki Yaadein, Devendra Mewari
-
Stree: Aseemta Ka Itihas, Abhay Kumar Thakur
Hindi fiction
-
Trimaya, Manish Kulshrestha
-
Shreyasi, Vinay Kumar
-
Matlab Hindu, Ambar Pandey
-
Paandaan, Mujtaba Khan
-
Kabir Soyi Pir Hai, Pratibha Katiyar
Hindi translation
-
Kesav Sunhu Prabin, Alison Bush, translated from English by Reyazul Haque
-
Dakini, S Hari Kumar, translated from English by Suchita Mital
-
Megh Malhar, Deepak Kumar Barkakti, translated from the Assamese by Dinkar Kumar
-
Orbital, Samantha Harvey, translated from English by Rohini
-
Jaag Tujhko Door Jana, Namita Gokhale, translated from English by Aishwarj Kumar
