24 writers chosen for Sahitya Akademi Award 2025

• Sahitya Akademi announced its annual awards in 24 Indian languages for the year 2025 on March 16.

• English author and former ambassador Navtej Sarna and Hindi writer Mamta Kalia are among the 24 authors who will receive the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2025.

• The winning list includes eight books of poetry, four novels, six books of short stories, two essays, one literary criticism, one autobiography and two memoirs.

• Every year, Sahitya Akademi bestows awards in 24 languages recognised by it through an established process.

• The authors and poets will receive a plaque, a shawl and an amount of Rs 1 lakh at a ceremony on March 31.

• For the Sahitya Akademi Award 2025, the process started in January 2025 with issuance of an open advertisement on January 30, 2025.

• The Awards, recommended by distinguished Jury members in 24 Indian languages, were approved by the Competent Authority of Sahitya Akademi.

Winners and titles:

Assamese: Devabrat Das - Karhi Khelar Sadhu (Novel)

Bengali: Prasun Bandyopadhyay - Shrestha Kabita (Poetry)

Bodo: Sahaisuli Brahma - Dwngnwi Lama Mwnse Gathwn (Novel)

Dogri: Khajur Singh Thakur - Thakur Satsayie (Poetry)

English: Navtej Sarna - Crimson Spring (Novel)

Gujarati: Yogesh Vaidya - Bhattkhadaki (Poetry)

Hindi: Mamta Kalia - Jeete Jee Allahabad (Memoir)

Kannada: Amaresh Nugadoni - Dada Seerisu Tande (Short Stories)

Kashmiri: Ali Shaida - Najdavanek’y Pot Aalav (Poetry)

Konkani: Henry Mendonca (H.M. Pernal) - Konkani Kavyem: Rupani Ani Rupakam (Essays)

Maithili: Mahendra - Dhatri Paat San Gaam (Memoir)

Malayalam: N. Prabhakaran - Maayaamanushyar (Novel)

Manipuri: Haobam Nalini - Kanglamdriba Eephut (Short Stories)

Marathi: Raju Baviskar - Kalyanilya Resha (Autobiography)

Nepali: Prakash Bhattarai - Nepali Paramparik Sanskriti Ra Sabhyata Ko Dukuti (Essays)

Odia: Girijakumar Baliyar Singh - Padapurana (Poetry)

Punjabi: Jinder - Safety Kit (Stories)

Rajasthani: Jitender Kumar Soni - Bharkhama (Stories)

Sanskrit: Mahamahopadhyaya Sadhu Bhadreshdas - Prasthanacatustaye Brahmaghosah (Poetry)

Santali: Sumitra Soren - Mid Birna Chenne Saon Inag Sagai (Short Stories)

Sindhi: Bhagwan Atlani - Waghoo (Stories)

Tamil: Sa. Tamilselvan - Thamiz Sirukathaiyin Thadangal (Literary Criticism)

Telugu: Nandini Sidha Reddy - Animesha (Poetry)

Urdu: Pritpal Singh Betab - Safar Jaari Hai (Poetry).

Sahitya Akademi

• Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, was established in March 1954 by the government of India. 

• It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture with the objectives to work for the development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards, foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and promote through them the cultural unity of the country.

It aims to:

i) Promote good taste and healthy reading habits.

ii) Keep alive the intimate dialogue among the various linguistic and literary zones and groups through seminars, symposia, lectures, discussions and readings.

iii) Increase the pace of mutual translations through workshops and individual assignments.

iv) Develop a serious literary culture through publication of translations, journals, monographs, individual creative works of every genre, anthologies, encyclopedia, bibliographies, histories of literatures, dictionaries, etc. 

• The Akademi has a special programme called Gramalok for the writers from remote village areas.

• The Akademi has recently introduced a new programme titled Dalit Chetna to give exposure especially to Dalit writers. 

• Akademi gives 24 awards annually to literary works in the languages it has recognised and an equal number of awards to literary translations from and into the languages of India, both after a year-long process of scrutiny, discussion and selection.

• Sahitya Akademi bestows Bal Sahitya Puraskar on the best literary works in the field of children’s literature and Yuva Puraskar for young writers who have achieved excellence in creative writing and Bhasha Samman for significant contribution to classical and medieval literature and unrecognised languages. 

• It also awards fellowships and honorary fellowships to eminent writers, Indian and non-Indian, and Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy Fellowship and Premchand Fellowship to a person of eminence in the field of art, culture, literature and language studies, and to scholars doing research on Indian literature or to creative writers from the SAARC countries other than India.