Indian-Origin Writers Kalayil, Majumdar Longlisted for 2026 Prize

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 5 March 2026

• Sheena Kalayil and Megha Majumdar, authors of Indian origin, have been announced in the long list for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction
• The authors’ works deal with political revolution and human decisions

Kalayil Sheena and Megha Majumdar are both from India and are represented on the 2026 longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction with their respective novels. Kalayil lives in Manchester, UK, while Majumdar is resident in New York, USA.

The longlist comprises 16 books, with just under half of them being published by independent publishers; therefore, it represents a large proportion of them being represented in this way, based on their current availability.

In addition, there are also seven debut authors included in the longlist (e.g., Susan Choi & Katie Kitamura were both nominated for the 2025 Booker Prize), with other notable authors to be found there (e.g., Kit de Waal & Lily King).

Kalayil’s novel is titled A Guardian and a Thief and is set in a futuristic version of Kolkata, India, where many citizens experience damage inflicted by climate change in many ways (e.g., flooding and drought). An example of this is provided by one character, Ma, who is about to travel to the USA with her two-year-old daughter and an elderly father.

Before she and her family can leave, they have their right to leave the country confiscated by a 15-year-old boy named Boomba, who represents many children in a world suffering from the devastating effects of global warming.

Her debut novel, a 2020 release titled A Burning, achieved membership in the New York Times bestseller list and won several awards including the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar (2021) and Whiting Award (2022).

After editing at Catapult Books for a while, she transitioned to writing full-time before her second book, A Guardian and A Thief, made the longlist for the National Book Award in 2025 with consideration for the Kirkus Prize too.