Odisha Diary

For over a year, the #KLF Readers’ Club has been actively working in Bhubaneswar to advance this vision by organizing regular reading sessions, community interactions, and youth engagement initiatives—encouraging students and young readers not only to read, but to engage with, discuss, and appreciate books and our rich literary heritage. #OdiaPakhya #OdiaAsmita #KLFReadersClub #ReadingMovement #Bhubaneswar #KalingaLiteraryFestival

Heartfelt congratulations to Padma Bhushan Dr. Pratibha Ray on being conferred the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, India’s highest literary honour. For over a decade, she has been a guiding presence for Kalinga Literary Festival, shaping conversations, inspiring audiences, and enriching our journey. Her work continues to give voice to the unheard and connect generations through literature. We are proud, grateful, and inspired. #KLF #PratibhaRay #SahityaAkademi #IndianLiterature #LiteraryLegends

KLF Book Awards 2026 Longlist Announced Hindi Debut The wait is over! We are excited to unveil the Hindi Debut Longlist for the KLF Book Awards 2026—celebrating fresh voices and new perspectives that are redefining contemporary Hindi writing. These debut works bring forward powerful narratives, bold ideas, and unique storytelling, marking the arrival of promising new authors in the literary landscape. Longlisted Titles: स्मृति और दंश : विभाजन, निरंतरता और तीसरी पीढ़ी — Balwant Kaur (Rajkamal Prakashan) जब हर हँसी संदिग्ध थी — Parag Pavan (Rajkamal Prakashan) शेष रहेगा प्रेम — Rashmi Kulshreshtha (Shivna Prakashan) धरा के अंक में — Shweta Upadhyay (Jansabha) बिना मुरादों वाला दिया — Rekha Jha (Rajkamal Prakashan) सरक़श फ़क़ीर : साहिर लुधियानवी की जीवन यात्रा — Dr. Ratan Lal Mahendragarhi (New World Publication) चन्दन किवाड़ — Malini Awasthi (Vani Prakashan) The winners will be conferred during the inaugural ceremony of Kalinga Literary Festival Indraprastha. Join us as we celebrate emerging voices that promise to shape the future of Hindi literature. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #HindiLiterature #DebutAuthor #IndianLiterature #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are thrilled to announce that 'Harvesting Gods' by Satya Mohanty, published by Speaking Tiger, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. ‘Harvesting Gods’ by Satya Mohanty is one of those beautiful treasures that explores what survives in a broken world. It asks what survives when myths are weaponised, when the earth gives way, when memory becomes the only home left. And it answers not with certainty, but with raw, searching and achingly human feelings. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #PoetryCollection #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are delighted to announce that 'Searches' by Vauhini Vara, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for Best Nonfiction at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. In 'Searches', Vauhini Vara explores the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and artificial intelligence. Drawing from her own experiences as a technology journalist and writer, Vara reflects on the unsettling and fascinating moment when she asked ChatGPT to write about her sister’s death, producing a result that was both moving and deeply disquieting. Blending personal narrative with sharp technological insight, the book examines how digital platforms and AI tools are reshaping creativity, identity and human connection in an age increasingly shaped by technological capitalism. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, on May 9 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KalingaLiteraryFestivalBookAwards #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #BookAwards #Poetry #Longlist #IndianLiterature #BooksOf2025 #LiteraryExcellence #IndianHabitatCentre

We are pleased to announce that 'The Elsewhereans' by Jeet Thayil, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for Best Fiction at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Across continents and generations, 'The Elsewhereans' traces lives shaped by movement, memory and separation. In this genre-defying work, Jeet Thayil blends fiction, memoir, travel writing and family history to follow journeys that stretch from the backwaters of Kerala to the streets of Bombay, Hong Kong and Paris. Moving through decades of departure and return, the novel reflects on migration, loss and the delicate threads that bind identity to place. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, on May 9 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #BookAwards2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndianHabitatCentre #IndianLiterature #BooksOf2025 #LiteraryExcellence

We are pleased to announce that 'Rising Sons' by Kavery Nambisan, published by Penguin Random House India, is on the longlist for Best Fiction at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Relationships are kept together by delicate threads. In 'Rising Sons', Kavery Nambisan explores the fragile ties between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and families and the communities that surround them. Set in a small village in pre-independent Karnataka, the novel follows Devaraya, a Brahmin patriarch whose carefully ordered world begins to unravel when a secret from the past resurfaces. As the tremors of the Independence movement reach the village, personal loyalties and social divisions collide. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, on May 9 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #BookAwards2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndianHabitatCentre #IndianLiterature #BooksOf2025 #LiteraryExcellence

We are pleased to announce that 'Absolute Jafar' by Sarnath Banerjee, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for Best Fiction at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Lives shaped by migration often carry stories that stretch across borders and generations. In 'Absolute Jafar', Sarnath Banerjee traces the intertwined lives of Brighu and his son Jafar across cities, memories and histories. As Jafar grows up in Berlin, far from the subcontinent that shaped his parents’ lives, Brighu fills his son’s world with stories of a fading home, of sultans and jinns, street food and eccentric relatives, of Delhi, Calcutta and Karachi. Through humour, nostalgia and quiet reflection, the novel becomes a poignant meditation on belonging, memory and the complicated inheritance of identity. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, on May 9 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #BookAwards2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndianHabitatCentre #IndianLiterature #BooksOf2025 #LiteraryExcellence

We are pleased to announce that 'The Beast Within' by Rudraneil Sengupta, published by Westland Books, is on the longlist for Best Fiction at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Not every death tells its story at first glance. In 'The Beast Within', Rudraneil Sengupta begins with the fall of a young domestic worker from the terrace of an affluent Delhi home, a tragedy quickly dismissed as an accident or suicide. But when Inspector Kumar of the Crime Branch takes a closer look, the case slowly unravels into something far more troubling. As the investigation moves through the layered worlds of the city, the novel exposes the hidden tensions, inequalities and quiet violence that run beneath the surface of everyday life. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, on May 9 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #BookAwards2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndianHabitatCentre #IndianLiterature #BooksOf2025 #LiteraryExcellence

We are delighted to announce that 'The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India's Past' by Sowmiya Ashok, published by Hachette India, is on the longlist for Best Debut (Across Genres) at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. History is rarely unearthed without a little dust and debate. In 'The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India's Past', Sowmiya Ashok follows the trail of the Keeladi excavation, one of India’s most debated archaeological discoveries in recent years. What begins as a search for the story of an ancient settlement soon opens into a wider journey across excavation sites, historical arguments and the politics that shape how we interpret the past. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #NonFiction #HistoryBooks #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

With great pleasure, we announce that 'Shattered Lands' by Sam Dalrymple, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for Best Debut (Across Genres) at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Borders often appear permanent on maps, but history tells a far more restless story. In 'Shattered Lands', Sam Dalrymple traces the dramatic unravelling of the Indian Empire and the five partitions that reshaped a vast region once bound under a single imperial rule. Drawing on archival research, memoirs and voices from across the subcontinent, the book reveals how political ambitions, conflicts and shifting alliances changed boundaries and lives alike. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #NonFiction #HistoryMatters #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are thrilled to announce that 'Hot Water' by Bhavika Govil, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for Best Debut (Across Genres) at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Family stories often look simple from the outside, but the truth beneath them is rarely uncomplicated. In 'Hot Water', Bhavika Govil traces the delicate world of a single mother and her two children, whose lives appear full of small joys and quiet rituals. Beneath the surface, however, lie questions of identity, love and longing that refuse to stay hidden. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Fiction #DebutFiction #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

It is with great pleasure that we announce that 'Remnants of Rebellion' by Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew, published by Aleph Book Company, is on the longlist for Best Debut (Across Genres) at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Homes often carry memories long after the people who lived there are gone. In 'Remnants of Rebellion', Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew brings readers to a quiet bungalow in Kerala whose past refuses to stay buried. As Aleyamma returns to the home left behind by her grandfather, she begins to uncover stories shaped by colonial histories, political unrest and deeply personal loss. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Fiction #DebutAuthor #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are thrilled to announce that 'Harvesting Gods' by Satya Mohanty, published by Speaking Tiger, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. ‘Harvesting Gods’ by Satya Mohanty is one of those beautiful treasures that explores what survives in a broken world. It asks what survives when myths are weaponised, when the earth gives way, when memory becomes the only home left. And it answers not with certainty, but with raw, searching and achingly human feelings. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #PoetryCollection #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are delighted to announce that 'So That You Know' by Mani Rao, published by HarperCollins India, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. ‘So That You Know' is Mani Rao at her most captivating. This collection defies easy categorisation, blending visual elements with text as it swings between the playful and the profound, the measured and the extravagant. Each stanza vibrates with the exuberance of discovery and the hard-won clarity of lived experience. It’s poetry that untethers images and lets them run wild, delving into the heart without apology and returning with something raw and luminous. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #ContemporaryPoetry #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

With great pleasure, we announce that 'My Life Closed Twice' by Subhashini Kaligotla, published by Copper Coin, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Grief does not travel in straight lines; it spirals, echoes and persists. 'My Life Closed Twice' embodies this truth profoundly. Subhashini Kaligotla's second collection immerses you in loss, weaving together fragments and litanies, lists and unanswered questions, revisiting the same wound from varied perspectives. Rooted in the art, literature and history of premodern India, these poems articulate an ancient language of private devastation. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #PoetryCollection #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

It is a pleasure to announce that 'The Map Is Not the Territory' by Aranya Padil, published by Copper Coin, is on the longlist for Best Debut (Across Genres) at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Cities are never just places on a map. In 'The Map Is Not the Territory', Aranya Padiyal gathers poems that move through shifting urban landscapes and inner worlds, where memory, myth and everyday life collide. Written over 15 years, the collection drifts between cities, forests, music, performance and politics, capturing fleeting moments of tenderness as easily as quiet acts of resistance. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #PoetryLovers #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

It is with great pleasure that we announce that 'The Gallery of Upside-Down Women' by Arundhathi Subramaniam, published by Penguin Random House, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. What does it take to keep one’s balance in a world that refuses to stand still? In ‘The Gallery of Upside-Down Women’, Arundhathi Subramaniam brings together voices that challenge gravity in every sense. These are women who slip past borders, walk unconventional paths and refuse the limits imposed on them. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #WomenWriters #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are delighted to announce that 'Lone Pine' by Siddhartha Menon, published by Hachette India, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. Some poems encourage us to slow down and reconsider the world we think we know. In ‘Lone Pine’ Siddhartha Menon explores the landscape as both a witness and a companion, examining the changing relationship between place, memory and identity. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #NaturePoetry #BookLonglist #BookCommunity

We are pleased to announce that 'Folie à Deux' by Jennifer Robertson, published by Poetrywala, is on the longlist for the Poetry Collection at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2026. 'Folie à Deux' announces Jennifer Robertson as a voice that is entirely and unmistakably her own. This debut collection explores intimate strangeness with a sensuousness that is both intellectual and visceral, weaving together literature, painting and cinema into something that feels more like instinct than influence. Join us in celebrating literature at the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards, which will take place on May 9, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. #KalingaLiteraryFestival #KLFBookAwards2026 #KLF2026 #KLFIndraprastha #IndiaHabitatCentre #NewDelhi #IndianLiterature #Poetry #DebutPoetry #BookLonglist #BookCommunity