Vinod Kumar Shukla and Sitanshu Yashaschandra To Be Honoured at Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest 2025

The 16th edition of Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest will honour two towering figures of Indian literature this year. The Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2025 will go to acclaimed Hindi novelist and poet Vinod Kumar Shukla, while the Godrej Literature Live! The Poet Laureateship will be conferred upon the eminent Gujarati poet and playwright, Sitanshu Yashaschandra.

Both writers have profoundly shaped Indian literature in their respective languages, and their recognition underscores the festival’s commitment to celebrating diverse literary traditions.

Vinod Kumar Shukla: A Voice Rooted in Poetry

Known for his distinctive blend of realism and magical lyricism, Vinod Kumar Shukla is widely regarded as one of India’s most revered Hindi novelists and poets. His celebrated works, including Naukar Ki Kameez and Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi, have been translated into several languages and continue to resonate with readers across generations.

Vinod Kumar Shukla has previously won both the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jnanpith Award, the two highest literary honours in India. Internationally, he remains the only Indian author to have received the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.

Accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Shukla reflected on his lifelong journey with words: “Writing is an attempt to speak, to express oneself, to search for one’s own voice. For me, the ultimate truth is that the beginning of writing was with poetry, and the end, too, will be with poetry. I thank you all for the Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2025.”

Vinod Kumar Shukla will be felicitated with the Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award

Sitanshu Yashaschandra: The Poet Laureate

This year’s Poet Laureate at the Mumbai LitFest 2025, Sitanshu Yashaschandra, is a celebrated Gujarati poet, playwright, and academic whose surreal style has left a lasting imprint on Indian literature. Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection Jatayu and recipient of the Padma Shri, Yashaschandra’s career has spanned continents. He studied at St. Xavier’s College and Mumbai University, taught at Mithibai College, and served as a visiting fellow at leading institutions, including the Sorbonne.

On being named Poet Laureate, he emphasised the spirit of shared joy in literature: “It is not a ‘puraskar’ but a ‘paaritoshik’: an expression of joy felt by some of my contemporary writers. I am glad and grateful that you have shared this feeling publicly with me.”

Sitanshu Yashaschandra will be honoured as the Godrej Literature Live! Poet Laureate

Honouring Literary Diversity

Festival Co-Directors Amy Fernandes and Quasar Thakore Padamsee noted that Shukla’s rootedness in rural India and Yashaschandra’s surreal poetic vision embody the range of voices Indian literature offers.

Nadir Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director of Godrej Industries, added that the recognition of these two literary giants “highlights the richness and variety of India’s literary canvas.”

Past recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mumbai LitFest, Literature Live! include Ruskin Bond, Anita Desai, Girish Karnad, and Amitav Ghosh, while the Poet Laureateship has been held by luminaries such as Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Vikram Seth, and Joy Goswami.