New Delhi — The Ekamra Sports Literature Festival (ESLF), Asia’s premier celebration of sports writing for the past six years, is set to go global. Festival Director Sundeep Misra announced plans to expand the awards internationally beginning in 2026, opening the doors for sports writers from around the world to be recognised for their contributions to the genre.
This year’s ESLF Awards honoured some of the most compelling works in sports literature. Bring It On by Deepa Malik and Soni Sangwan received the Sports Book of the Year 2025, while The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife by Puja Pujara and Namita Kala was named Biography of the Year 2025.
The festival also awarded The One, Cricket, My Life and More by Shikhar Dhawan, Chandresh Narayan, and Namita Kala as Autobiography of the Year, and Fearless by Mohinder Amarnath and Rajinder Amarnath as Cricket Book of the Year. Sacred Grounds: A Journey Through People’s Football in India earned the Special Jury Award, while HarperCollins was recognised as Publisher of the Year.
Celebrating its seventh season, ESLF hosted a special panel featuring Olympic gold medallist and high jump world record holder Javier Sotomayor (2.45m) alongside India’s national record holder Tejaswin Shankar (2.29m). The two athletes held an engaging discussion on Sotomayor’s legendary, gravity-defying jumps — a world record that has stood unbroken for 32 years. Reflecting on his achievement, Sotomayor said, “What helped me was competing in an era of exceptional high jumpers. I learned a lot from them and from my predecessors. My advice is to stay dedicated, focused, and disciplined — and always aim to do better than the year before.”
The day concluded with a session by cricket writer and filmmaker Jarrod Kimber, who discussed his book The Art of Batting, featuring the world’s top 50 cricketers. Kimber highlighted the evolution of batting technique, noting, “You can’t be a Rahul Dravid in this era. You have to be what your era allows, especially with the influence of DRS and the Review system post his retirement.”
Held at New Delhi’s Bikaner House, the annual festival also featured sessions by Italian author Franco Nugnes, Palestinian middle-distance runner Mohammed Dwedar, India’s first female Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik, authors Sandeep Menon and Jaydeep Basu, festival director Sundeep Misra, and rising stars of Indian athletics — hurdler Shourya Ambure, triple jumper Poorva Sawant, and distance runner Bushra Khan.
This year’s celebrations marked not only a tribute to sports storytelling but also a new chapter for ESLF as it prepares to bring its platform to a global stage.
