Indian-origin authors among 2025 Kirkus Prize Finalists

The Kirkus Prize, established in 2014 by Kirkus Reviews, is one of the world’s richest literary awards, carrying a cash prize of $50,000 for winners

Megha Majumdar, Arundhati Roy Kiran Desai, / Wikipedia/ File Photo

Indian-origin writers Kiran Desai, Megha Majumdar, and Arundhati Roy were among the 18 nominees for Kirkus Reviews' 2025 Kirkus Prize, one of the world’s richest literary awards.

Majumdar was chosen for her novel A Guardian and a Thief, set in a near-future Kolkata facing climate change and food scarcity. The narrative follows two families over the course of a week: one searching for stolen immigration documents, the other caught in escalating crimes born of desperation. The novel examines how far families will go to protect their children’s future amid looming catastrophe.

Also Read: Aman J. Bedi shortlisted for inaugural Aldiss Award in speculative fiction

In the Fiction category, Desai is shortlisted for The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a nearly 700-page novel that has been in progress for nearly two decades. The book follows two young Indian writers entangled in romantic relationships hidden from their families, who attempt to arrange a marriage between them.

The novel explores themes of love, family, and the role of the United States in the Indian imagination. It is also on the Booker Prize shortlist.

Roy has been nominated in the Nonfiction category for Mother Mary Comes to Me, a memoir centered on her relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, who founded a school in Kerala while challenging patriarchal norms. The book recounts Roy’s personal journey as a writer, her marriage and long-term relationship, and the controversies that followed the publication of her Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things. It also reflects on her political evolution as a critic of contemporary India.

Each category winner will receive $50,000, with the winners to be announced on October 8 at the TriBeCa Rooftop in New York. The ceremony will also be livestreamed on Kirkus’ YouTube channel.

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