New Delhi: The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) proudly announces the longlisted titles in English and Hindi for its prestigious annual KLF Book Awards, celebrating outstanding literary works across diverse genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's literature, business, translations, and debut works. The longlist is a testament to Kalinga Literary Festival’s mission of honoring the best in contemporary literature. The shortlist will be revealed on January 30, 2025, and the winners will be announced on February 15, 2025 at IIC, New Delhi in a glittering ceremony. Additionally, the longlisted titles in Odia will be announced on February first week.
KLF Book Awards will be conferred in 6 Hindi Categories, 7 English Categories , Award winner will get Rs 1 lakh in each categories. The KLF Book Awards will be held on February 15, 2025 at IIC, New Delhi.
This year's longlist English includes notable works such as Vikas Swarup’s ‘The Girl with the Seven Lives’ Upamanyu Chatterjee's book "Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life", Dr. Vikram Sampath's "Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore's Interregnum (1760-1799)", Manu S. Pillai's "Gods, Guns, and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity,' Somnath Batabyal's 'Red River', Tania James's 'Loot', Dilip Sinha's 'Imperial Games in Tibet' , Tridip Suhrud's 'The Dairy of Manu Gandhi (1946-1948)' , Smarak Swain's 'Digital Fortunes: A Value Investor’s Guide to the New Economy', Ravi Chaudhry's "Capitalism to Peopleism" and others . These selections exemplify the rich tapestry of narratives that the KLF Book Awards aim to honor. The KLF Book Awards are not just accolades but a celebration of the enduring power of literature to connect, inspire, and transform.
This year's longlist Hindi includes notable works such as acclaimed writers Anant Vijay's 'Over The Top: OTT ka Mayajaal',Vimal Chandra Pandey's 'Dasasmedh', Garima Srivastava's 'Hindi Navjagran : Itihas, Galp Aur Stree-Prashn' , Neelesh Misra's 'Gaanv Se Bees Postcard', Kabeer Sanjay's 'Godavan : More Angana Ki Son Chiraiya', Yatish Kumar's 'Borsi Bhar Aanch | Ateet Ka Sair-been', Manisha Kulsherstha's 'Vanya'. Prabhat Ranjan's 'Kissagram', Bhagwandas Morwal's 'Kans', Sarvesh Tiwari ‘Shreemukh’;s 'Poornahuti', Devi Prasad Mishra's 'Koi Hai Jo' are among the titles selected for the longlist of the KLF Book Awards (Hindi).
Quotes from KLF Leadership
Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Founder and Director of Kalinga Literary Festival, shared, "The KLF Book Awards’ Vision is to strengthen the power of literature to shape the future. With each longlist, we aim to spotlight works that pave the way for transformative ideas and dialogues, setting the stage for a more thoughtful and connected world."
Mr. Ashok Kumar Bal, CEO of KLF, remarked, "Our mission with the KLF Book Awards is to provide a credible platform for recognizing exceptional literary talent, bridging gaps between languages and cultures, and nurturing a deeper appreciation for the written word among readers and writers alike."
This prestigious event will honor 15 outstanding books across English, Hindi, and Sanskrit languages, celebrating literary excellence and promoting India's rich cultural heritage. Additionally, 4 exceptional books in the Odia language will be recognized during the annual Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar from March 21-23, 2025.
This year, KLF received an overwhelming response from publishers, writers, and readers, with over 2000 nominations submitted for the awards
The longlists in each category and the eminent juries that decided the awards are as follows:
Here are the longlisted books for this year’s Prize:
4th KLF Book Awards (English)
(Longlist Announcement)
Fiction
1
Red River
Somnath Batabyal
Context
2
Mother India
Prayaag Akbar
Harper Collins
3
Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life
Upamanyu Chatterjee
Speaking Tiger
4
Loot
Tania James
Penguin
5
The Girl with the Seven Lives
Vikas Swarup
Simon & Schuster
6
The Enclave : A Sharp and Hilarious Portrait of Womanhood in India
Rohit Manchanda
Harper Collins
7
Beneath the Devil Tree : Malabar 1921
Anjana Varma
Vitasta
8
Devadasi
Sangeeta Bahadur
Parchment Publications
Non-Fiction
1
Gods, Guns, and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity
Manu S. Pillai
Penguin
2
Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore's Interregnum (1760-1799)
Dr. Vikram Sampath
Penguin
3
Iru: The Remarkable Life of Irawati Karve
Urmilla Deshpande & Thiago Pinto Barbosa
Speaking Tiger
4
The Jallianwala Bagh Journals
Sarmistha Gupta
Jadavpur University Press
5
Imperial Games in Tibet
Dilip Sinha
Pan Macmillan
6
The Sherpa Trail: Stories from Darjeeling and Beyond
Nandini Purandare, Deepa Balsavar
Roli Books
7
The Diary of Manu Gandhi (1946-1948)
Tridip Suhrud
Oxford University Press
8.
Rukhmabai : The Life and Times of a Child Bride Turned Rebel-Doctor
Sudhir Chandra
Pan Macmillan India
Poetry
1
Yes, There Will Be Singing
Hamraaz
Westland
2
I Don’t Love You Anymore
Rithvik Singh
Penguin Random House India
3
I’ll Have It Here
Jeet Thayil
HarperCollins
4
The Dust Draws Its Face on the Wind
ByAvinash Shrestha, translated from Nepali by Rohan Chhetri
HarperCollins
5
All These Streets We've Known By Heart
Siddharth Dasgupta
Red River
6
Freerain
Easterine Kire
Penguin Random House India
7
How to Love in Sanskrit
Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh
HarperCollins
8
The Notbook of Kabir: Thinner than Water, Fiercer than Fire
Anand
Penguin Random House India
Debut
1
The Many Lives of Syeda X : The Story of an Unknown Indian
Neha Dixit
Juggernaut
2
Glass Bottom
Sonali Prasad
Pan Macmillan
3
Girls Who Stray
Anisha Lalvani
Bloomsbury India
4
The Lucky Ones: A Memoir
Zara Chaudhary
Context (Westland)
5
The Foresighted Ambedkar
Anurag Bhaska
Penguin
6
Code Dependent
Madhumita Murgia
Picador (Pan Macmillan)
7
Chronicle of an Hour and a Half
Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari
Context
Translation
1
Maria Just Maria
By Sandhya Mary, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil
HarperCollins
2
The Solitude of a Shadow
By Devibharathi, translated from Tamil by N. Kalyan Raman
HarperCollins
3
Ten Days of the Strike: Selected Stories
By Sandipan Chattopadhyay, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha
HarperCollins
4
Our City That Year
By Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
Penguin
5
Boy Unloved
By Damodar Mauzo, translated from Konkani by Jerry Pinto
Speaking Tiger
6
Limited/Unlimited
Sankar translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha
Bloomsbury India
7
The Day the Earth Bloomed
By Manoj Kuroor, translated from Malayalam by J. Devika
Bloomsbury India
8
The Essential Ghalib
By Anisur Rahman
HarperCollins
Business
1
Digital Fortunes: A Value Investor’s Guide to the New Economy
Smarak Swain
Bloomsbury India
2
Capitalism to Peopleism
Ravi Chaudhry
Simon and Schuster
3
Amrut—the Great Churn: The Global Story of India’s First Single Malt
Sriram Devatha
Westland
4
Lilliput Land
Rama Bijapurkar
Penguin
5
The Tanishq Story
C.K. Venkataraman
Juggernaut
6
Dharmanomics: An Indigenous and Sustainable Economic Model
Sriram Balasubramanian
Bloomsbury India
7
Insightful Inc. : How to Build an Insightful and Consumer-centric Organization
Manish Makhijani
Juggernaut Books
8
Let's Talk Legacy
Monika Halan
HarperCollins
Children
1
The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes
Vidya Varadarajan
Scholastic Of India
2
The Boy with a Hundred Questions
Nalini Ramachandran
HarperCollins
3
Why the Apple Falls
Swagata Deb and Sandipan Deb
Juggernaut
4
Laxmi Panda: The Story of Netaji's Youngest Spy
Savie Karnel
Westland
5
The Great Indian Nature Trail
Rohan Chakravarty, Bijal Vachharajani
Juggernaut
6
Save the Solar System with Nye & Friends
Tanya Gawdi
Rupa Publication
7
The Couch Potato Who Said Ouch And Other Funny Stories
Khyrunnisa A.
Westland
4th KLF Book Awards (Hndi)
(Longlist Announcement)
Non-Fiction
1
Pathik Main Aravali Ka
Bhanwar Meghwanshi
Rajpal and Sons
2
Over The Top "??? ? ???" : OTT ka Mayajaal Book
Anant Vijay
Prabhat Prakashan
3
Hindi Navjagran : Itihas, Galp Aur Stree-Prashn
Garima Srivastava
Vani Prakashan
4
Borsi Bhar Aanch | Ateet Ka Sairbeen
Yatish Kumar
Radhakrishna Prakashan
5
Godavan : More Angana Ki Son Chiraiya
Kabeer Sanjay
Vani Prakashan
6
Gaanv Se Bees Postcard
Shiv Balak Misra , Neelesh Misra
Eka
7
Professor Ki Diary
Dr. Laxman Yadav
Unbound Script
Fiction
1
Koi Hai Jo
Devi Prasad Mishra
Rajkamal Prakashan
2
Poornahuti
Sarvesh Tiwari ‘Shreemukh’
Rajpal And Sons
3
Kissagram
Prabhat Ranjan
Rajpal And Sons
4
Vanya
Manisha Kulsherstha
Rajpal And Sons
5
???
Bhagwandas Morwal
Vani Prakashan
6
??????? (Dasasmedh)
Vimal Chandra Pandey
Hind Yugm
7
Atar
Pratyaksha
Rajkamal Prakashan
Poetry
1
Dharm Wah Naav Nahin
Shirish Kumar Maurya
Rajkamal Prakashan
2
EAK AANKH KOUNDHATI HAI: ??????-???????? ??????? ?? ?????
Vinod Padraj
Vera Prakashan
3
Waqt Zaroorat
Avinash Misra
RAJKAMAL PRAKASHAN
4
Nadi Ka Marsiya To Pani Hi Gayega
Keshav Tiwari
Hind Yugm
5
Aathwein Maale Par Swadhishthan
Chinmayi Tripathi
Vani Prakashan
6
Mere Aasan Jhoot
Dwarika Prasad Uniyal
Prabhat Prakashan
7
Mai Akasar Sochta Hoon
Neelesh Mishra
Eka
8
Vasna Ek Nadi Ka Naam Hai
Savita Singh
Vani Prakashan
Translation
1
Tuka Akash Jitna : Poems by Sant Tukaram
Translated by Rajendra Godapakar
Rukh Publication
2
Charu, Chivar Aur Charya –By Pradeep Das
Translated by Sujata Shiven
Penguin
3
Mahagatha –By Satyarth Nayak
Translated by Aasutosh Garg
Harper Colins
4
Mahan Hindu Sabhyata: Uplabdhiyaan, Upeksha, poorvgrah aur Aage ka Rasta
Translated by Pavan K. Varma
Eka
5
Himalaya Ek Khoj: Lama, Sant aur Nastik by Namita Gokhle
Translated by Prabhat Ranjan
Harper Collins
6
In Love With Death by Satish Modi
Translated by Parijat
Harper Collins
7
Knife by Salman Rashdi
Translated by Manjit Thakur
Penguin
Debut
1
Tabhi Hamne Apna Pedpan Kho Dia
Mudit Srivastava
Hind Yugm
2
Pui
Rahul Srivastava
Lokbharti Prakashan
3
Mutah : Ek Shodhparak Adhyayan
Naila Hasan
Rekhta Books
4
Mukhbir
Sushil Tanwar
Rajpal Sons
5
Praayashchit
Ashwini Pratap
Hind Yugm
6
Chandghati Ki Anaro
Savita Sharma Nagar
Vani Prakashan
7
Chakka Jaam
Gautam Choubey
Rajkamal Prakashan
8
Gada Tola
Rahi Dumarchir
Rajkamal Prakashan
Children
1
Gopi Ki Diary
Sudha Mruty
Prabhat Prakashan
2
Chand Pizza
Author Anurag Minus Verma
Pratham Books
3
Dilli Ki Kahani
Apurva Virmani Johri
Rajpal and Sons
4
Krishna Vasudev: An Illustrated Novel
Alok Bajpai (Author), Illustrator : Pranoy Basak (Author), Editor/Translator : Ishita Sehgal
Vani Prakashan
5
Saur Mandal ki Sair
Sarita Saraf Alankrita Amaya
Adidev Press
6
Magic Box
Anulata Raj Nair , Deepak Hira Ranganath, Anita Sethi
Westland Books
7
Hamare Bacche Bane Acchey
Lal Devendra Srivastava
Swatantra Prakashn
About KLF Book Awards
Over the years, KLF has emerged as an Annual Flagship Program in the literary-cultural calendar of India with an unwavering focus to rekindle the bearing with literature and foster the culture of reading and writing, overlooking any artificially created hurdles. It offers a democratic international platform with a global appeal and bridges the gap between literature in English and other Indian languages, supremely rich with their literatures. KLF Book Awards, established by KLF in 2021 opens up the opportunities to identify, recognise, acknowledge, encourage and honour the literary talents across genres, for both established and new writers. The objective has been to shape the future literary icons.
Recognized as the largest literary spirit of the world, Kalinga Literary Festival attracts over half a million attendees over four dynamic days. The upcoming 11th edition of KLF spotlights Indonesia as a Country partner to foster cultural exchange. Bringing together a diverse line-up of speakers, including Booker Prize winners and nominees, Nobel laureates, celebrities, acclaimed authors and thought leaders from various disciplines KLF marks a major celebration in the literary calendar.
About the Kalinga Literary Festival:
Kalinga Literary Festival celebrates the vibrant spirit of India and its rich literary heritage, fostering dialogues that resonate with people from every walk of life. Since 2013, it has become a sanctuary for the free exchange of ideas, welcoming thousands to the shared love of literature and the arts.
In the festival's symphony of voices, we find our own uplifted — in celebration, in contemplation, and in the humble pursuit of wisdom that transcends time. The Kalinga Literary Festival beckons you to be a part of this grand narrative — to listen, to speak, and to be inspired.
