Subi Taba wins Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman
Arunachal Pradesh writer Subi Taba has been awarded the Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman 2025 for Best Fiction for her debut short story collection rooted in indigenous worlds.
ITANAGAR- Arunachal Pradesh writer Subi Taba has won the Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman 2025 for Best Fiction for her short story collection Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains, a work that foregrounds the lived experiences, belief systems and moral worlds of the state’s indigenous communities.
Instituted by the New Indian Express Group, the award was presented at a ceremony held in Chennai, where Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan conferred the honour in the presence of jury members, writers and cultural figures. The award citation described the collection as a “luminous and deeply rooted” work of fiction that brings marginalised geographies and voices into the centre of Indian literary imagination.
Tales from the Dawn-Lit Mountains is Taba’s debut short story collection and has been widely noted for its lyrical blend of realism and myth. Drawing from local folklore, oral traditions and animistic belief systems, the stories move fluidly between the past and the present, portraying worlds where spirits, ancestral memory and the natural environment coexist with everyday human life.
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Set against forests, rivers and mountain villages, the narratives explore the intimate relationship between communities and their land, while also reflecting on cultural continuity and transformation. The collection engages with themes of tradition and modernity, spiritual belief, human–nature coexistence and the changing social landscape of Northeast India.
The jury noted that through “spare, evocative prose”, Taba captures the emotional and moral universe of mountain communities with restraint and empathy. The work was praised for expanding the imaginative geography of Indian fiction and reaffirming storytelling as a means of cultural preservation and renewal.
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The book emerged as the Best Fiction title in a competitive year, surpassing other shortlisted works such as Heart Lamp by Bhanu Mushtaq, winner of the International Booker Prize, and The Girl with the Seven Lives by Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire. The recognition underlines the growing visibility of literary voices from India’s North-Eastern region within the national literary mainstream.
The Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman is considered among India’s most respected literary honours, recognising narrative courage, authenticity and artistic excellence across languages and genres.
