Mumbai, October 8, 2026: Author Irwin Allan Sealy will receive the Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award, while poet Gagan Gill will be named Poet Laureate at the 17th edition of Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, scheduled for October 23–25, 2026 at NCPA, Nariman Point.
The festival organisers said Sealy, known for works such as The Trotter-Nama and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, will be recognised for his contributions across genres in Indian literature. Gagan Gill, a poet and translator in Hindi and English, will be honoured as Poet Laureate. Gill, who recently won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her poetry collection Jab Tak Aayi Baahar, is also a former journalist.
Sealy and Gill to attend festival
Both Sealy and Gill are expected to attend the festival in person, according to co-directors Amy Fernandes and Quasar Thakore Padamsee. The organisers said the awards highlight the diversity of Indian literary voices and traditions represented at the event.
Statements from awardees and organisers
Accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Sealy said he was “honoured and delighted” to be recognised for his body of work. Gill described her appointment as Poet Laureate as “magical,” noting the significance of recognition for poets.
Pirojsha Godrej, Chairperson of Godrej Industries Group, said Sealy and Gill have made “distinctive and enduring contributions to Indian literature,” and that their work reflects the richness of India’s literary traditions.
Past recipients of festival honours
Previous winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival include Vinod Kumar Shukla, Pratibha Ray, C S Lakshmi, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Anita Desai, Ruskin Bond, Shanta Gokhale, Sir Mark Tully, Girish Karnad, Amitav Ghosh, Kiran Nagarkar, M T Vasudevan Nair, Khushwant Singh, Sir V S Naipaul, and Mahasweta Devi. Past Poet Laureates have included Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Mamang Dai, Gieve Patel, Adil Jussawalla, Javed Akhtar, K. Satchidanandan, Jayanta Mahapatra, Gulzar, Keki Daruwalla, Vikram Seth, and Joy Goswami.
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