Sixth edition of the KLF Book Awards celebrates outstanding books published in 2025; winners to be honoured at Ek Bharat, Anek Bol Festival in New Delhi
New Delhi: The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) has announced the winners of the KLF Book Awards 2026, marking the sixth edition of the prestigious literary awards, which recognise outstanding books published in 2025 across five categories — Fiction, Non-fiction, Debut, Poetry Collection and Translated Fiction. The winning authors and translator will be felicitated at the inaugural ceremony of Ek Bharat, Anek Bol Festival, presented by KLF, on 18 December 2026 at Travancore House, New Delhi.
Established as part of KLF’s continuing engagement with contemporary literature, the KLF Book Awards recognise books that demonstrate literary merit, originality and a meaningful engagement with the world around us. The sixth edition brings together a diverse selection of voices across genres, including established authors, emerging writers, poets and translators.
The winners of the KLF Book Awards 2026 are:
Best Fiction
Great Eastern Hotel by Ruchir Joshi
HarperCollins Publishers India
Best Non-fiction — Joint Winners
Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age by Vauhini Vara
Pantheon
Scamlands by Snigdha Poonam
Penguin Viking
Best Debut
The World With Its Mouth Open by Zahid Rafiq
Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House India
Best Poetry Collection
Folie à Deux by Jennifer Robertson
Paperwall Publishing
Best Translated Fiction
Mudritha by Jissa Jose, translated by Jayasree Kalathil
HarperCollins Publishers India
Each award category carries a prize of ₹1 lakh, along with a citation, a distinguished trophy and a traditional shawl, recognising and celebrating the literary achievements of the winning authors and translator. The honours are intended to acknowledge both the literary merit of the selected works and the contribution of their creators to contemporary literature.
The Best Non-fiction award has been jointly awarded to Vauhini Vara for Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age and Snigdha Poonam for Scamlands. The two books approach contemporary realities from distinct perspectives, engaging with questions of identity, technology, society and the forces shaping the modern world.
Ruchir Joshi’s Great Eastern Hotel, published by HarperCollins Publishers India, is a historical novel set in Calcutta in 1941, bringing together a range of characters against the backdrop of a city undergoing profound social and political change.
Vauhini Vara’s Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, published by Pantheon, examines the relationship between technology and human experience, exploring questions of identity, memory, selfhood and connection in an increasingly digital world.
Snigdha Poonam’s Scamlands, published by Penguin Viking, investigates the networks and people behind the expanding world of fraud, examining the social and economic circumstances that have enabled scam economies to flourish across India, Asia and beyond.
Zahid Rafiq’s The World With Its Mouth Open, published by Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House India, brings together eleven stories set in Kashmir, exploring individual lives shaped by conflict, uncertainty, loss, longing and resilience.
Jennifer Robertson’s Folie à Deux, published by Paperwall Publishing, is a poetry collection that explores memory, art, cinema, photography and the varied textures of contemporary experience.
Jissa Jose’s Mudritha, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil and published by HarperCollins Publishers India, explores questions of identity, freedom and self-discovery through the story of a woman’s disappearance and its wider implications.
The KLF Book Awards 2026 will also recognise literary excellence in Hindi. The winners in the Hindi categories will be announced in the first week of October 2026, completing the awards’ recognition of outstanding writing across languages.
The announcement of the KLF Book Awards 2026 winners marks another chapter in KLF’s ongoing engagement with contemporary literature. The sixth edition celebrates books published in 2025 that represent diverse literary voices, forms and perspectives, while continuing the awards’ endeavour to connect significant writing with a wider readership.
The winning authors and translator will be formally felicitated during the inaugural ceremony of Ek Bharat, Anek Bol Festival, presented by KLF, on 18 December 2026 at Travancore House, New Delhi.
The ceremony will bring together writers, poets, translators, publishers, artists and cultural practitioners to celebrate literature and the many voices that contribute to India’s vibrant cultural landscape.
Ek Bharat, Anek Bol Festival, presented by KLF, will be held from 18–20 December 2026 at Travancore House, New Delhi. The three-day festival will feature literary conversations, panel discussions, poetry, book launches, performances and cultural dialogues bringing together diverse literary and intellectual voices from across India and beyond.
About Kalinga Literary Festival
The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) began its literary journey in 2012 and has grown into a prominent literary and cultural platform connecting writers, poets, thinkers, artists, academics, publishers and cultural practitioners from India and around the world. Over the years, KLF has expanded its literary engagement through its annual festival in Bhubaneswar, international editions including KLF Kathmandu, and a range of year-round literary and cultural initiatives. KLF continues to create spaces for dialogue across languages, cultures and disciplines, while encouraging reading, writing and engagement with literature.