Hindi Day is the perfect time to celebrate women writers who reshaped literature with engaging stories and fearless ideas. From novels to poetry, these award-winning voices define literary genius.
She won the award in 1980 for ‘Zindaginama’. The novel paints village life through everyday speech and women who speak freely, long before it became common in Hindi writing.
Alka Saraogi received the award in 2001 for ‘Kali-Katha: Via Bypass’. It follows one woman’s memories to explore family, migration, and how the past quietly shapes who we become.
Mridula Garg won the award in 2013 for ‘Miljul Man’. Her stories focus on relationships, choice, and independence, especially how women negotiate love, freedom, and expectations.
Nasira Sharma received the award in 2016 for ‘Parijat’. The novel looks closely at women’s emotional worlds while showing how social and political changes affect ordinary lives.
Chitra Mudgal won the award in 2018 for ‘Post Box No. 203 – Nala Sopara’. The book brings working-class lives to the centre, showing dignity, labour, and survival in crowded urban spaces.
Poet Anamika received the award in 2020 for ‘Tokri Mein Digant: Thehri Gatha’. The long poem uses stories and myth to talk about women’s voices, power, and everyday resistance.
In 1979, Mahadevi Varma became the first woman to receive the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship. Works like ‘Yama’ and ‘Shrinkhala Ki Kariyan’ shaped how modern Hindi poetry sounds.