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 to take place from October 23 to 25, 2026, at the NCPA, Nariman Point.
The festival will recognise Sealy for his acclaimed contributions to Indian literature across genres, including his debut work The Trotter-Nama, and for being a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. Gagan Gill, a poet and translator in Hindi, will be honoured for her nationally recognised poetry, including her recent Sahitya Akademi Award-winning collection Jab Tak Aayi Baahar.
Lifetime Achievement and Poet Laureate awards
Sealy, whose works have been nominated for and received several prestigious prizes, said he was “honoured and delighted” to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award. Gill, who has also worked as a journalist, described her selection as Poet Laureate as “deeply honoured,” noting the recognition of her poetic voice.
Festival organisers and previous honourees
Amy Fernandes and Quasar Thakore Padamsee, Co-Directors of Godrej Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, said the awards this year honour a writer in English and a poet in Hindi, reflecting the diversity of Indian literature. Pirojsha Godrej, Chairperson of Godrej Industries Group, said both awardees have made “distinctive and enduring contributions to Indian literature.”
Past recipients of the Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 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. Previous 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.
Event details and participation
The 17th edition of the festival will be held at the NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai, from October 23 to 25, 2026, with both Sealy and Gill scheduled to attend in person.
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