The 2nd Edition of PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival: A Day of Celebration, Discussion, and Recognition

The 2nd edition of the PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival was a massive success, garnering 2M+ reach and 200k+ visitors. The literature festival was a six-day event (Virtual+Physical) organized in a distinct composition from its previous edition. This year, the celebration was more significant, featuring diverse authors and introducing the Hindi world into the mix. With the theme of "Taking Humanity Forward," the PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival commenced its second rendition on 9 January and continued till 14 January. 

Organized by Frontlist Media, the PVLF has established a milieu for new and debut authors to get them recognized. The festival celebrated the true essence of Indian Literature and spread its joy by addressing prevailing issues. The event featured the PVLF Author's Marathon from the 9th to the 13th of January, where renowned world authors, debut authors, and industry professionals led riveting and thought-provoking sessions on various topics under different sub-themes.

The virtual PVLF 2023 went live on Frontlist Website. We garnered immense support from the entire publishing industry and the audience. 

A total of 79 speakers and 27 publishers participated in the festival. 63 were part of the virtual literature festival from the 9th to 13th January, and 16 joined the physical event on the 14 January. There were 30 sessions, which accumulated over 600,000 minutes of viewership with 150k+ views on the virtual literature festival. 

On 14 January, the PVLF 2023 kicked off with a classical dance performance by Harpreet Kaur Jass, followed by the lighting of the lamp by our founders and chief guest. 

Dr. RajKumar Ranjan Singh was the Chief Guest at the PVLF 2023, which commenced from 9 am onwards. He said, "I am delighted to be here at PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival 2023. This is merely an encouraging activity. Although we publish books regularly, we need to organize such festivals to promote the regular habit of reading by the communities. This is a good opportunity provided by the organizers of PVLF, so if we continue these kinds of activities, India will soon be a Vishwa Guru."

After the inauguration ceremony, engaging series of conversations highlighting mental health and wellness, the question of is human existence for serving or living, the art of fiction, and how personal experiences and true narratives rule the roost. PVLF's knowledge partner, Nielsen BookData, presented the importance of data in schools and children's book publishing, while Solh Wellness brought up the comprehensive issue of mental wellness. 

On the same day, PVLF Excellence Awards 2023 was initiated in the evening to acknowledge literary artworks and the publishing industry. Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji, Minister of Labour and Employment, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, was the Chief Guest at the event and he had a quite interactive session with the audience on his new book 'The Rise of BJP,' co-authored by Ila Patnaik, an Indian economist. 

Special Guest Andre Breedt, Managing Director of Nielsen BookData, and Dr. K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary of Sahitya Akademi, graced the occasion with their valuable presence. 

The PVLF Excellence Awards felicitation ceremony took place with great enthusiasm to honor and recognize the best literary works of the year. RJ Sachin from RedFM India announced the winners and special guests, Nielsen BookData Team and FIP, industry partners, along with founders of Frontlist Media, handed over certificates and trophies to all winners. It was a spectacular and successful Awards Night. 

220 authors & 40+ Publishers nominated themselves for the PVLF Author Excellence Awards and went through Jury Selection. Our Jurors, Kaveree Bamzai (Best Debut Non Fiction & Best Non-Fiction), Lipika Bhushan (Best Debut Non Fiction & Best Children Author of the Year), and Ratna Joshi (Best Debut Fiction & Best Children Author of the year), shortlisted 5 nominees and put for Public Voting. The last (2022) edition of the PVLF Excellence Awards garnered 42K+ votes for awards. However, we've reached a new milestone this year and received 220k+ votes. 

In addition, we determined some illegal voting during the vote auditing for the book 'Governance Ka Right Angle', publisher StoryMirror Infotech Pvt. Ltd., and author Lovekesh Chandra. Hence they have been removed from the PVLF Author Excellence Award 2023 'Hindi Category.' We are invariably committed to having an authentic, unbiased, and data-driven award system. 

PVLF 2023 got immense support from esteemed publishers such as Wonder House Books, Dreamland Publication, Disha Publication Inc., Solh Wellness, FingerPrint Publishing, and Scholastic India. This year's venture helped us forge new bonds with Red FM India, Goodlyfe Project, WICCI, Neptune, and Blossom Kochhar. A special thanks to Nielsen BookData and Mr Andre Breedt for coming to India to specially attend the PVLF 2023. 

Frontlist Media organized the PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival, with the Federation of Indian Publishers [FIP] as an industry partner and brought by Nielsen BookData as the knowledge partner. 

The PVLF Excellence Awards are divided into three categories:

PVLF Author Excellence Awards 

Based on Nominations, Jury Selection and Public Voting 

We have a total of 8 categories under PVLF Author Excellence Awards 2023.     

List of Categories: 

1. Best Debut Fiction

2. Best Debut Non-Fiction

3. Best Fiction

4. Best Non-Fiction

5. Best Poetry

6. Best Children Author of the Year 

7. Most Celebrated Author (Based on Nielsen BookData) 

8. PVLF Author Excellence Award Hindi 

Seven of these categories are based on nominations, and only the Most Celebrated Author Category is based on the Nielsen BookData. Jury members shortlisted five nominees from all the above categories, and all nominees went through public voting except the Most Celebrated Author category.

List of Jury:  

1. Lipika Bhushan

2. Kaveree Bamzai 

3. Ratna Joshi 
 

 
2) PVLF People's Choice Publisher Award 

 Based on Nielsen BookData 

There were three categories under this award section, and the top 3 Indian Publishers in each category were selected based on the Nielsen BookData.

3) PVLF Readers' Choice Book Award (English and Hindi Language) 

 Based on Nielsen BookData and Voting. 

• English Language - In the category of Platinum (250K + Book Copies), Gold (150K - 250K+ Book Copies), and Silver (100k - 150k). 
   
• Hindi Language - In the category of Platinum (20k+ Book copies), Gold (7K- 20K book copies), and Silver (2.5K -7K book copies).
   

According to Kapil Gupta, Co-founder, Frontlist Media, "600,000 minutes of viewership and 217741 votes, the entire publishers and authors community were excited about the PVLF 2023. PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival 2023 was an incredible event. We got Shri Bhupender Yadav Ji as our chief guest for the PVLF Excellence awards 2023 and Dr. Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh as our chief guest for the Morning Literature festival. While we said that this year was amazing, next year will be bigger and better, and we will keep on improving year after year. PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival will soon become the flagship literature festival in this country."

Pranav Gupta, Co-founder, Frontlist Media shared that "PragatiE Vichaar Literature Festival 2023 was a wonderful literature festival with many authors and publishers becoming a part of this thrilling 6-day-long celebration of Indian literature and the Indian publishing industry.
Also, PVLF Awards are truly one of a kind and have been encouraging Indian Publishers since their inception. I believe such awards are a great way to encourage the efforts made by publishers within different verticals of the publishing domain. PVLF Awards are unique data-driven awards which we have been able to curate successfully. As co-founder, of Frontlist I am proud of the curation and how the results have turned out". 

We want to congratulate everyone who participated in the event. Heartfelt gratitude to all our guests, partners, and supporters who made this event a huge success; indeed, 2023 was a blockbuster. 

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