Celebrating Voices, Shaping Futures

The Valley of Words Book Awards 2025 honours eight diverse authors across genres, spotlighting India's shifting literary landscape, intergenerational voices, and the art of cultural memory

- SURAJ KUMAR

Each October, as the foothills of the Himalayas turn misty and Dehradun readies for the changing season, another tradition takes root — one that has nothing to do with weather or landscape, and everything to do with imagination. The Valley of Words (VoW) Book Awards, now in its ninth edition, have grown into a touchstone for Indian literature, a gathering where language, history, and creativity meet under a common canopy.

This year's REC-VoW Book Awards 2025 mark more than just a list of eight distinguished winners; they mirror the shifting tides of Indian publishing itself. With over 600 nominations from 75 publishing houses across the country, the awards were judged by last year's winning authors and translators, ensuring that writers themselves shaped the choices. The result: a list as eclectic as it is representative, ranging from children's books to explorations of cannabis culture, from Hindi fiction to reimagined translations.