Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards 2026

Current Context: On January 21, 2026, the Banaras Literature Festival (BLF) announced winners of the 2nd Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards during a curtain-raiser in Delhi NCR, with formal presentation set for Varanasi (Jan 30–Feb 1, 2026).

• The Bhartendu Harishchandra Lifetime Achievement Award went to Namita Gokhale for her enduring literary and cultural contributions.
• The Kalidas Award honored Mahadev Toppo, a Kurukh poet, while the Vivekanand Award for Youth recognized Parag Pawan.
• In English categories: Shinie Antony won the Ruskin Bond Award (Fiction), Abhay K the Sarojini Naidu Award (Poetry), Peggy Mohan the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award (Non-Fiction), and Arunava Sinha the Rabindranath Tagore Award (Translation).
• In Hindi categories: Mamta Kalia received the Premchand Award (Fiction), Udayan Vajpeyi the Kabir Award (Poetry), J. Sushil the Rahul Sankrityayan Award (Non-Fiction), and Rajgopal Singh Verma the Mahadevi Verma Award (Translation).

Question:

Q.1 Who received the Bhartendu Harishchandra Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Banaras Lit Fest Book Awards?
a) Mamta Kalia
b) Namita Gokhale
c) Peggy Mohan
d) Shinie Antony

Answer: b) Namita Gokhale was honored for her long-standing literary and cultural contributions.