Vikram Sampath Among Banaras Lit Fest Awardees For 2025, Lifetime Achievement Award For Writer Kashinath Singh 

The awards were announced at a curtain raiser for the Banaras Lit Fest in Delhi on Sunday. The festival is scheduled to be held from March 7 to 9 in Varanasi.

Author Vikram Sampath (R) has won the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction for 'Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore’s Interregnum (1760-1799)', while Kashinath Singh is being recognised for his vast body of novels and short stories.

Source : Banaras Lit Fest and X.com/vikramsampath

The Banaras Lit Fest: From senior journalist Raj Kamal Jha’s poignant Covid-based novel, to historian Vikram Sampath’s scholarly unravelling of one of India’s most debated figures: The winners of the Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards 2025 span the gamut of literary genres and represent the best in Indian writing.

According to the organisers, this year’s winning books embody the “richness and diversity of Indian literature, addressing themes of identity, history, language, and contemporary issues with remarkable depth and insight”. The awards, they add, seek to “celebrate literary artistry that challenges conventions, inspires thought, and enriches the cultural fabric of our society”.

The awards were announced at a curtain raiser for the festival in Delhi on Sunday. Each winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 51,000, along with a certificate and trophy, which will be presented during the Banaras Lit Fest, scheduled to be held from March 7 to 9 in Varanasi.

Full List Of Winners

Kabir Award for Poetry (Hindi)
आत्मद्रोह – आर. चेतनक्रांति (राजकमल प्रकाशन)/Aatmadroh by R. Chetankranti 

Rahul Sankrityayan Award for Non-Fiction (Hindi)
गार्जियनता – व्योमेश शुक्ल (रुख़ पब्लिकेशन)/Garjiyanta by Vyomesh Shukla

Premchand Award for Fiction (Hindi)
आउशवित्ज: एक प्रेम कथा – गरिमा श्रीवास्तव (वाणी प्रकाशन)/Auschwitz: Ek Prem Katha by Garima Srivastama

Mahadevi Verma Award for Translation (Hindi)
नये भारत की दीमक लगी शहतीरें – परकाला प्रभाकर (अनुवाद: व्यालोक पाठक, राजकमल प्रकाशन)/Naye Bharat Kee Deemak Lagi Shahteeren by Parakala Prabhakar (Translated by Vyalok Pathak)

Sarojini Naidu Award for Poetry (English)
I’ll Have It Here: Poems – Jeet Thayil (HarperCollins)

Ruskin Bond Award for Fiction (English)
The Patient in Bed Number 12 – Raj Kamal Jha (Penguin)

Rabindranath Tagore Award for Translation
The Keeper of Desolation: Stories – Chandan Pandey (Translated by Sayari Debnath, HarperCollins)

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction
Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore’s Interregnum (1760-1799) – Vikram Sampath (Vintage Books)

Apart from these winners, Hindi writer Kashinath Singh will be awarded the Bhartendu Harishchandra Lifetime Achievement Award, which comes with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. Writer Radha Vallabh Tripathi, meanwhile, will get the Banaras Lit Fest Kalidas Award for Scheduled Indian Language, with a cash prize of Rs 51,000.

Congratulating the winners, Deepak Madhok, president of the Banaras Lit Fest, said the awards “stand as a beacon of literary brilliance, recognising works that challenge, transform, and elevate the literary discourse of our times”. “The winners this year have not only showcased exceptional storytelling and scholarly rigour but have also illuminated the vast and vibrant landscape of Indian literature. We are honoured to celebrate their extraordinary contributions,” he was quoted as saying in a press release.

Brijesh Singh, founder and secretary of Banaras Lit Fest, added, “We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners, whose literary excellence has set new benchmarks. Their works represent the finest in contemporary writing, reflecting deep intellectual and artistic commitment. 

“We are also profoundly grateful to our esteemed jury, led by eminent scholar Prof. Jatin Nayak, alongside Prof. Banibrata Mahanta, Dr Priti Choudhary, Dr Lalit Kumar, and Dr Pravin Kumar, for their rigorous and dedicated selection process.”