Despite the general belief that reading books is a dying activity, the mushrooming of literature festivals, book fairs, and literary awards proves otherwise. In tandem with the trend, the Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2025 were announced in Delhi on Saturday.
Notably, the three-day Kalinga Literary Festival is set to take place in Bhubaneswar next month.
The Kalinga Literary Festival Book Awards 2025 went to the popular names in the English and Hindi literary spaces. For example, ex-diplomat-turned-writer Vikas Swarup won in the English fiction category for his The Girl With The Seven Lives, along with Rohit Manchanda, who was awarded for The Enclave. Interesting choices given the shortlist also included Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life by ex-bureaucrat and English, August fame Upamanyu Chatterjee. Loot by Indian-American writer Tania James was another one shortlisted. The novel tells the fictional tale of the artists behind 'Tippoo's Tiger', an almost life-sized wooden semi-automaton, made for ruler Tipu Sultan of Mysore. The artifact, which shows the tiger mauling a European soldier, is currently housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
While Tipu lost in the fiction category, the premise won in the non-fiction category as historian Dr Vikram Sampath was awarded for Tipu Sultan: The Saga of Mysore's Interregnum (1760–1799). Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar also won in the same category for The Sherpa Trail. While accepting the award, Purandare had a key request for the dignitaries present, including Culture & Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, for resources such as translators or audiobooks so that the Sherpas "could read what was being written about them".
The Book Award for poetry (English) went to poet-novelist Jeet Thayil for I'll Have It Here, while journalist-author Neha Dixit won in the debut (English) category for much-acclaimed The Many Lives of Syeda X. Similarly, translator Arunava Sinha bagged the award in the English translation category for Ten Days of the Strike, Savie Karnel won for children (English) for Laxmi Panda: The Story of Netaji's Youngest Spy.
In Hindi, journalist-writer Anant Vijay was awarded for his non-fiction book Over-the-top Ka Mamla while Manisha Kulsherstha and Prabhat Ranjan won in the fiction category for Vanya and Kissagram, respectively.
Similarly, Shirish Kumar Maurya won in the Hindi poetry category for Dharm Wah Naav Nahi, and Gautam Choubey was awarded for Chakka Jam in the debut category.
There were awards for special citation, too, which went to senior geologist and social worker Shiv Balak Misra for Gaanv Se Bees Post Card and Dr Sarita Mishra for her book Sambalpuri Ikats: The Masterpiece.
"Awards in the Odia language category will be announced during the Kalinga Lit Fest," festival founder-director Rashmi Ranjan Parida told The WEEK. The fest will take place from March 21 to 23.