Abhay K.
Abhay K. Wins Sarojini Naidu Poetry Award 2026
New Delhi: Poet and diplomat Abhay K. has been awarded the Sarojini Naidu Award for Poetry at the second Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards for his lyrical and singable English translation of Sri Hanuman Chalisa, published by Bloomsbury India.
The announcement came today during an outreach event at the Hi-Tech Institute of Engineering & Technology in Delhi NCR. The translation was chosen by a jury of five prominent contemporary Indian poets from a shortlist of five works. It preserves the rhythm, rhyme, and energy of Tulsidas’ 15th-century Awadhi original while bridging ancient devotion with contemporary values such as courage, resilience, and selfless service, making the text accessible to global and younger readers.
Namita Gokhale received the Bhartendu Harishchandra Lifetime Achievement Award.
The awards recognise fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and translation in English, Hindi, and other Indian languages. Each category prize includes ₹51,000, a citation, and a trophy; the lifetime award carries ₹1,00,000. Most will be presented at the main Banaras Lit Fest, January 30 to February 1, 2026, at Hotel Taj in Banaras.
English-category winners
– Ruskin Bond Award for Fiction: Eden Abandoned: The Story of Lilith by Shinie Antony
– Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for Non-Fiction: Father Tongue, Motherland: The Birth of Language in South Asia by Peggy Mohan
–Rabindranath Tagore Award for Translation: Limited / Unlimited by Sankar (translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha)
Hindi-category winners
– Premchand Award for Fiction: Doorasth Dampatya by Mamta Kaliya
– Kabir Award for Poetry: Paagal Ganitagya Ki Kavitayen by Udayan Vajpeyi
– Rahul Sankrityayan Award for Non-Fiction: Dukh Ki Duniya Bheetar Hai by J. Sushil
– Mahadevi Verma Award for Translation: 1857 Ki Kranti Ka Awadh by Thomas Henry Kavanagh (translated by Rajgopal Singh Verma)
Special honours
– Kalidas Award for Indian Languages: Mahadev Toppo
– Vivekanand Award for Youth: Parag Pawan
The selections highlight works rooted in literary tradition while engaging with contemporary realities.
Abhay K., a career diplomat and poet-diplomat, has built a diverse body of work that often draws from his international postings and cultural explorations. His poetry collections frequently reflect place-based themes, travel, and cross-cultural connections, while his translations and editorial projects promote Indian classical and regional literature globally.
He has published over a dozen poetry collections inspired by his global postings, translations of classical and regional Indian texts, and edited anthologies promoting Indian literature worldwide.
Beyond the Sri Hanuman Chalisa translation, notable works include:- Poetry: The Alphabets of Africa (2026), Celestial: A Love Poem (2023), Stray Poems (2022), Monsoon (2022), The Magic of Madagascar (2021, bilingual), The Alphabets of Latin America (2020), *The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu* (2018), and The Seduction of Delhi (2014, award-shortlisted).
– Translations: Fool Bahadur (2024, first Magahi novel to English), Meghaduta and Ritusamhara by Kalidasa (Kalinga Literary Festival award-winners).
– Edited anthologies: Nalanda: How it Changed the World (2025, national bestseller), The Book of Bihari Literature (2022), The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems (2020), and the 100 Great Indian Poems series (translated into multiple languages).
– Other: Composer of the Earth Anthem (in over 150 languages); poems in The Penguin Book of Poems on Indian Cities (2025) and international journals; essays in *The Times of India* and *The Diplomat*.
This award for the Hanuman Chalisa translation aligns with Abhay K.’s ongoing focus on making devotional and classical texts resonant for contemporary, global audiences—building on his prior acclaimed renditions of Kalidasa and regional works.
– global bihari bureau
