Women AutHer Awards shortlists out
The Women AutHer Awards have revealed their 2026 shortlists across fiction, nonfiction, debut and children’s categories — a clear signpost of this year’s standout women writers to watch. Shortlists aim to spotlight breadth across genres and emerging voices. (scroll.in)
Fiction shortlist: The Comeback — Annie Zaidi; Rising Sons — Kavery Nambisan; The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny — Kiran Desai (scroll.in (scroll.in)). Nonfiction shortlist: Rubber: The Social and Natural History of an Indispensable Substance — Vidya Rajan; A Man For All Seasons: The Life Of KM Panikkar — Narayani Basu; Scamlands: Inside the Asian Empire of Fraud That Preys on the World — Snigdha Poonam (scroll.in (scroll.in)). Debut shortlist: Invisible in Plain Sight: Voices From the By-Lanes of Kamathipura — Swati Pandey; Lōal Kashmir: Love and Longing in a Torn Land — Mehak Jamal; Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains — Subi Taba (scroll.in (scroll.in)). Children’s shortlist: Sneaker Paati — Anita Nair; Ganesh Haloi: Colours of Home — Likla Lall; Rain Holiday — Shreya Ramachandran (scroll.in (scroll.in)). Each category’s winner will receive a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh (the amount is to be shared in case of joint winners), winners will be chosen by juries and the Popular Choice award is decided through online voting; three books were shortlisted in each category. (scroll.in (scroll.in)). The AutHer Awards are presented by JK Paper and The Times of India, received roughly 3,000 entries for this season, and will announce winners at an awards night on March 22, 2026 in New Delhi; the juries considered books published in India between December 2024 and November 2025 as eligible. (The Times of India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com); AutHer Awards official site (autherawards.in))
