'Swallowing the Sun' gets REC-VoW Book award in English fiction category

Dehradun, Sept 12 (PTI) Valley of Words, a prestigious platform for promoting literature, on Friday announced eight winners of the REC-VoW Book Awards 2025, with the award in the English fiction category going to 'Swallowing the Sun' by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri.

Karan Madhok has been selected for 'Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India' in English non-fiction, Banibrata Mohanta for 'Lavanya Devi' (Hindi work by Kusum Khemani) in English translation, Sulabha Kore for 'Seventy-two Miles' (Marathi work by Ashok Vatkar) in Hindi translation, Soni Pandey for 'Suno Kabir' in Hindi fiction, Sudhir Vidyarthi for 'Bidaay De Maa' in Hindi non-fiction, Kripa for 'Art is a Voice' in Young Adult Literature and Neil Flory for 'Cactus Wants a Hug' in children's literature.

Currently in its ninth edition, the Valley of Words Festival continues to host India's most comprehensive independent literary awards.

Each winner will get a prize of Rs 1 lakh along with a citation at the event's finale to be held here on October 25-26.

A panel discussion will also be held at the event on the works of the winning authors, a press release from the organisers of the festival said.

Over 600 nominations were received in 2025 from 75 publishing houses across the country. The selection of the books involves a three-stage process, it said.

Commenting on the REC-VoW Book Awards 2025, VoW Festival Director Sanjeev Chopra said, "As in previous years, the response from publishers has been very positive. We also wish to thank all the Jury Members for their patient reading and insightful selections.

"Each of the books chosen this year is ambitious in its scope and covers themes which help us better understand ourselves and the world around us. We are all very much looking forward to engaging with the authors in Dehradun and bringing their work to audiences here." PTI ALM ALM KSS KSS