Bhubaneswar: The Kalinga Literary Festival proudly announces the longlisted titles in English for its prestigious annual KLF Book Awards, showcasing a diverse range of literary works across various genres. The longlist, featuring fiction, nonfiction, poetry, business, children’s literature, translations, and debut works, represents the best of contemporary literature. The shortlist will be revealed on January 15, with the ultimate winners announced on February 11, coinciding with the final day of the 10th Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar. Additionally, the longlisted titles in Hindi will be announced on December 27.
This year’s longlist includes notable works such as Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey through Opium’s Hidden Histories,’ Salman Rushdie’s ‘Victory City,’ Devika Rege’s ‘Quarterlife: A Novel,’ Ranjit Hoskote’s ‘Icelight,’ and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s ‘Breaking the Mould – Reimagining India’s Economic Future.’ 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. As Mr. Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Founder and Director of Kalinga Literary Festival, eloquently states, “Literature is the mirror and the lamp of society – it reflects our realities and illuminates our dreams. At KLF, we strive to honor those literary works that challenge our perspectives, enrich our experiences, and elevate our understanding of the world and ourselves.”
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:
3rd KLF Book Awards (English)
(Longlist Announcement)
| Non-Fiction | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey through Opium’s Hidden Histories | Amitav Ghosh | Fourth Estate India (HarperCollins Publishers India) |
| 2 | Intertidal: A Coast and Marsh Diary | Yuvan Aves | Bloomsbury India |
| 3 | How Prime Ministers Decide | Neerja Chowdhury | Aleph Book Company |
| 4 | Caste Pride: Battles for Equality in Hindu India | Manoj Mitta | Context (Westland) |
| 5 | A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar | Ashok Gopal | Navayana Publishing |
| 6 | Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century | Joya Chatterji | India Viking (Penguin Random House India) |
| Fiction | ||||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher | |
| 1 | Victory City | Salman Rushdie | India Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Random House India) | |
| 2 | Mad Sisters of Esi | Tashan Mehta | HarperCollins India | |
| 3 | This Is Salvaged: Stories | Vauhini Vara | Fourth Estate India (HarperCollins Publishers India) | |
| 4 | History’s Angel | Anjum Hasan | Bloomsbury India | |
| 5 | The Secret of More: A Novel | Tejaswini Apte-Rahm | Aleph Book Company | |
| 6 | Quarterlife: A Novel | Devika Rege | Fourth Estate India (HarperCollins Publishers India) | |
| Poetry | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | Icelight | Ranjit Hoskote | India Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Random House India) |
| 2 | My Invented Land: New and Selected Poems | Robin S. Ngangom | Speaking Tiger |
| 3 | Magadh | Shrikant Verma & Rahul Soni | Eka (Westland) |
| 4 | Anandibai Joshee: A Life in Poems | Shikha Malaviya | HarperCollins India |
| 5 | Saundarya Lahari: Wave of Beauty | Mani Rao | HarperCollins India |
| 6 | Varavara Rao: A Life In Poetry | Varavara Rao | Vintage Books (Penguin Random House India) |
| Debut | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | Hurda | Atharva Pandit | Bloomsbury India |
| 2 | The Day I Became a Runner: A Women’s History of India through the Lens of Sport | Sohini Chattopadhyay | Fourth Estate India (HarperCollins India) |
| 3 | The Bandit Queens: A Novel | Parini Shroff | HarperCollins India |
| 4 | Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 | Abhishek Choudhary | Pan Macmillan India |
| 5 | City on Fire: A Boyhood in Aligarh | Zeyad Masroor Khan | HarperCollins India |
| 6 | Fire on the Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras | Radhika Iyengar | Fourth Estate India (HarperCollins India) |
| Children | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | The District Cup | Mallika Ravikumar | Puffin (Penguin Random House India) |
| 2 | When Fairyland Lost Its Magic | Bijal Vachharajani, Rajiv Eipe | Harper Children’s (HarperCollins India) |
| 3 | Zen | Shabnam Minwalla | Duckbill (Penguin Random House India) |
| 4 | From Makaras to Manticores | C.G. Salamander | Hachette India |
| 5 | The People Of The Indus: And the Birth of Civilization in South Asia | Nikhil Gulati, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer | Penguin Random House India |
| 6 | Golden Tiger Mountain | Ravi Kapoor, Nicholas Hoffland | Harper Children’s (HarperCollins India) |
| Business | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | The Tech Phoenix – Satyam’s 100 Day Turnaround | T.N. Manoharan, V. Pattabhi Ram | Rupa Publications India |
| 2 | Another Sort of Freedom | Gurcharan Das | India Allen Lane (Penguin Random House India) |
| 3 | Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions | Akshat Rathi | John Murray (Hachette UK) |
| 4 | Against All Odds – The IT Story of India | S. Kris Gopalakrishnan, N. Dayasindhu, Krishnan Narayanan | India Portfolio (Penguin Random House India) |
| 5 | Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future | Raghuram Rajan, Rohit Lamba | Penguin Business |
| 6 | Inside The Boardroom: How Behaviour Trumps Rationality | R. Gopalakrishnan Tulsi Jayakumar | Rupa Publications |
| Translation | |||
| Sl. No. | Book Name | Author | Publisher |
| 1 | Valli: A Novel | Sheela Tomy (Author)
Jayasree Kalathil (Translator) |
Harper Perennial India (HarperCollins India) |
| 2 | Entering the Maze: Queer Fiction of Krishnagopal Mallick | Krishnagopal Mallick (Author)
Niladri R. Chatterjee (Translator) |
Thornbird (Niyogi Books) |
| 3 | Sakina’s Kiss | Vivek Shanbhag (Author)
Srinath Perur (Translator) |
Vintage Books (Penguin Random House India) |
| 4 | For Now, It Is Night: Stories | Hari Krishna Kaul (Author)
Kalpana Raina (Translator) Tanveer Ajsi (Translator) Gowhar Fazili (Translator) Gowhar Yaqoob (Translator) |
Harper Perennial India (HarperCollins India) |
| 5 | A Woman Burnt | Imayam (Author)
GJV Prasad (Translator) |
Simon & Schuster India |
| 6 | I Named My Sister Silence | Manoj Rupda (Author)
Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (Translator) |
Eka (Westland) |
It should be noted that on February 9-11, 2024 – The temple city of Bhubaneswar is poised to unfurl the timeless sagas of “Legends of Ancient Bharat and Beyond: Inspiring Lived Experience in the 21st Century.” Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) is humbly set to embark on its 10th edition, knitting together a mosaic of diverse literary forms ranging from poetry and politics to art and athletics. The Festival’s beating heart, themed “Legends of Ancient Bharat and Beyond,” will pulse with the collective rhythm of over 400 esteemed speakers, including poets, musicians, artists, and performers. In a reverent celebration of our shared heritage, the festival aims to rekindle the flame of inspiration from our ancestors’ wisdom, demonstrating its profound relevance in today’s world.
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