The Kalinga Literary Festival has announced the shortlists for its 2026 Book Awards in five categories – Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translation, and Debut. The winners will be announced in September 2026 and awards will be presented at the inaugural ceremony of KLF Indraprastha between October 3 and 4.Here are the complete shortlists:NonfictionSearches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, Vauhini VaraThe Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir, Anand TeltumbdeScamlands: Inside the Asian Empire of Fraud That Preys on the World, Snigdha PoonamMother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati RoyFictionGreat Eastern Hotel, Ruchir JoshiThe Elsewhereans, Jeet ThayilThe Beast Within, Rudraneil SenguptaAbsolute Jafar, Sarnath BanerjeePoetryThe City under the City, John Kinsella and Jeet ThayilSo That You Know, Mani RaoMy Life Closed Twice, Subhashini KaligotlaFolie à Deux, Jennifer RobertsonTranslationMudritha, Jissa Jose, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree KalathilTiger Lessons, Sannapureddy Venkatarami Reddy, translated from Telugu by Narasimha Kumar;Nowhere People, Manoranjan Byapari, translated from Bengali by Anchita GhatakHeart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa BhasthiDebutThe World With Its Mouth Open, Zahid RafiqThe Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past, Sowmiya AshokShattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia, Sam DalrympleThe Map Is Not the Territory: Poems, Aranya Padil