Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest closed its 17th edition on 25 October 2026 at the NCPA, Nariman Point. Over three days, the festival brought together 130 novelists, poets, writers, thinkers and performers from 18 countries across more than 40 sessions, and ended with the presentation of the Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards.
The 2026 award winners
Veteran novelist Irwin Allan Sealy received the Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award, and Hindi poet Gagan Gill was named this year’s Godrej Literature Live! Poet Laureate.
- Book of the Year, Fiction: Railsong: A Novel by Rahul Bhattacharya (Bloomsbury India)
- Book of the Year, Non-Fiction: The Hindi Heartland: A Study by Ghazala Wahab (Aleph Book Company)
- Best First Book, Fiction: Good Arguments by Deepika Arwind (Simon & Schuster India)
- Best First Book, Non-Fiction: Wild Wild East by Tanul Thakur (Westland Books/Context)
- Business Book of the Year: Running Behind Lakshmi: The Search for Wealth in India’s Stock Market by Adil Rustomjee (Hachette India)
- Publisher of the Year: Westland
Highlights from the festival
Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and Poet Laureate Gagan Gill drew full houses, and their sessions inspired young poets to take to the open mic in the NCPA gardens. Actors Shabana Azmi, Anahita Uberoi and Kunal Vijayakar read from plays shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Awards, and actor Shefali Shah launched her book at the festival, one of ten new titles unveiled across fiction, poetry, journalism and books about Mumbai.
Fiction sessions featured Irwin Allan Sealy, Shanta Gokhale and Jerry Pinto, alongside conversations on debut fiction, crime writing, short stories, ecological fiction and graphic novels. Economist Kaushik Basu spoke on the opening and closing days, para-athlete Arati Patil shared her journey in Paralympic sport, and art historian Naman Ahuja gave a talk on art and culture. Seven workshops and three theatre and music performances by international artists rounded out the programme.
The Little Festival
Running alongside the main festival, The Little Festival for children aged 7 to 13 filled the NCPA campus with storytelling, treasure hunts, map-making and sessions on nature, music and dance, along with six workshops, a Pinocchio exhibition and a musical play. It was held with the H T Parekh Foundation from 22 to 24 October.
Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, in association with NCPA and powered by Florintree, was held from 23 to 25 October 2026. Read more from the festival: Gulzar reads from Aamchi Mumbai, Javed Akhtar on AI and creative writing and Shashi Tharoor on cricket and life.
Disclaimer: The images used in this article have been provided to The Daily Brunch by Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest.
