Much-awaited 4th Annual KLF Book Awards to be held on Feb 15

New Delhi: The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) is proud to announce the highly anticipated shortlist for the 4th Annual KLF Book Awards. This year's shortlist, drawn from a competitive longlist, showcases re-markable literary achievements across diverse genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children's literature, business, translations, and debut works.

With 6 categories in Hindi and 7 in English, the awards highlight the richness and diversity of con-temporary literature. Each Book category winners will be awarded ₹1 lakh at a glittering ceremony on February 15, 2025, at the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi.

These selections are a testament to KLF’s commitment to honoring groundbreaking works that in-spire, connect, and provoke thought.

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 Iden-tity, 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. 

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 Chi-raiya', 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).

In addition to honoring 15 exceptional books in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit, the KLF Book Awards will recognise four outstanding works in Odia literature during the annual Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar from March 21–23, 2025.

Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Founder & Director of the Kalinga Literary Festival, said, “The journey from longlist to shortlist has been incredibly challenging this year, given the extraordinary quality and depth of sub-missions. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our distinguished jury members, whose dedication and expertise have been instrumental in selecting the very best from an overwhelming pool of over 2,000 nominations. This shortlist embodies our vision of celebrating transformative literary works that shape the discourse of tomorrow.”

Ashok Kumar Bal, CEO of KLF, shared his thoughts, “The KLF Book Awards are not just a recognition of literary talent but also a celebration of the diverse voices that enrich our cultural fabric. Creating this shortlist was no easy feat, and I applaud the efforts of our esteemed jurors. These works bridge the gaps between languages and cultures, reinforcing our mission to elevate the appreciation of literature across all readers.”

Since its inception, the KLF Book Awards have become a benchmark for literary recognition, cele-brating the best of India’s literary heritage while fostering dialogue across languages and genres. The overwhelming response to this year’s awards underscores their growing stature and the vibrant role literature plays in shaping society.

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, over-looking 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 at-tendees 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.