Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025: Celebrating Literary Excellence Across India

The Sahitya Akademi has announced the winners of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025, celebrating literary excellence across 24 Indian languages. Notable recipients include Devabrata Das for his Assamese novel 'Korhi Khelar Xadhu', Sahaisuli Brahma for her Bodo novel 'Dwngnwi Lama Mwnse Gathwn', and Haobam Nalini for her Manipuri short story collection 'Kanglamdriba Eephut'. This year's awards highlight significant contributions from the northeastern literary scene and recognize a diverse range of genres, including poetry, novels, and essays. The announcement follows a previous cancellation of a press conference, making this reveal particularly anticipated.

By Narendra Chaudhary Mar 16, 2026, 17:25 IST

Recognition of Literary Talent

Guwahati, Mar 16: On Monday, the Sahitya Akademi revealed the winners of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025, honoring authors from 24 different Indian languages for their remarkable contributions to literature.

This year's awards include writers from Assamese, Bodo, and Manipuri, highlighting significant literary achievements from the northeastern region of India.

The announcement follows the cancellation of a press conference that was initially scheduled for December 2025 to unveil the awardees.

According to a statement from the Sahitya Akademi, "We are pleased to announce the annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 24 Indian languages. This year, 8 poetry collections, 4 novels, 6 short story compilations, 2 essays, 1 literary critique, 1 autobiography, and 2 memoirs have been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025."

In the Assamese category, esteemed author Devabrata Das received the award for his novel Korhi Khelar Xadhu.

Das is recognized as a leading figure in post-modern Assamese literature, following the legacy of literary giants like Saurav Kumar Chaliha and Bhabendra Nath Saikia.

With a literary journey spanning over 40 years, Das has penned more than 25 works across various genres, including fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, critiques, and essays.

His literary contributions have earned him numerous accolades, such as the Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua Award in 2018 and the Sahitya Sanskriti Award from the literary organization Eka Ebong Koekjan in 2010.

Additionally, he was honored with the Tagore Literature Award by the Sahitya Akademi in 2010.

In the Bodo language category, Sahaisuli Brahma was awarded for her novel Dwngnwi Lama Mwnse Gathwn.

Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his congratulations to the winners via social media, stating, “I am thrilled that Assam’s literary talent has been acknowledged at the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025. Congratulations to Shri Devabrat Das for Korhi Khelar Xadhu (Assamese) and Smt. Sahaisuli Brahma for Dwngnwi Lama Mwnse Gathwn (Bodo). I wish them ongoing success.”

In the Manipuri category, Haobam Nalini was recognized for her collection of short stories titled Kanglamdriba Eephut.

Nalini had previously received the Yendrembam Surlata Puraskar from the Sahitya Seva Samiti Manipur in 2020 for the same collection.

Moreover, the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025 were also presented to authors in various other languages, including Bengali, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

In total, 24 authors from 24 Indian languages have been honored this year, celebrating exceptional literary works across genres such as novels, poetry, essays, memoirs, literary criticism, and short stories.