Lit fests bloom as interest grows among sponsors

The next four months will see at least 10 major literary festivals; realty firms, hospitality sector, banks in fray


Literature festivals used to be a niche pursuit—quiet little getaways where authors could meet some of their more ardent readers. No longer. The Jaipur Literature Festival in January, India’s biggest such event, saw nearly 100,000 visitors over five days. With more people attending such events, publishing companies are seeing them as brand-building platforms, reason enough for the corporate sector to show greater interest.

The indefinite postponement of Harud—The Autumn Festival of Literature, which was scheduled to be held in Srinagar this month, was an exception and more to do with politics than anything else.

Literature festivals have proliferated in India, and media houses are also entering the field. Both Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL) and Kasturi and Sons Ltd, publishers of The Times of India (TOI) and The Hindu, respectively, will host literature festivals in the next few months.

The Hindu’s festival, Lit for Life, will be held in Delhi and Chennai for a day each in September and October, respectively, with 50-60 delegates, including authors and guests. BCCL’s Mumbai Fully Booked: TOI Literary Carnival will be held at the city’s Mehboob Studios on 2-4 December.

Full report here Mint

Words hold centrestage

Bhutan's first ever literary festival Mountain Echoes was eloquent testimony to literature's ability to cross borders.

For three days, the hills of Bhutan — or more precisely the town of Thimphu — quiet, beautiful and green, came alive not with the sound of music but the sound of literature and reading, with the conversation of authors and readers.

There was music too, just as there was archery (a national sport), food and drink (with the national dish, cheese and chillies, having pride of place) and animated discussions on the nature of Gross National Happiness, Bhutan's signature ‘export' that has had much of the world talking about exactly what it is.

Mountain Echoes, the appropriately named literary festival at which these discussions took place, was the first ever literary celebration in a country just beginning to come to an awareness of its literary potential and just taking the first hesitant steps into transforming from an oral culture to one that also values print.

Full report here Hindu

Green letter days

More than 150 writers, many of them leading names, from the eight SAARC nations have converged in Delhi for the 33 rd SAARC Festival of Literature. Over the next three days, there will be outpourings of writings from the likes of fiction writers Selina Hossain of Bangladesh, Tahira Iqbal of Pakistan, AK Rashid from Afghanistan, Abhi Subedi from Nepal, Kunzang Choden from Bhutan and poet Lakshanta Athukorala from Sri Lanka.

India is represented by a large contingent comprising Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair, Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi and poet-lyricist Gulzar among others. “For the writers, the event dissolves borders as they discuss issues that concern all of us. For readers, it’s a time to meet the people with whose words they have become familiar,” says poet K Satchidanandan, who recited from his works That is all on Friday, the first day of the festival.

Every year, the festival focuses on a pressing issue, and the present edition is highlighting environment degradation. Hence, the list of awardees included not only Pakistani media person Hamid Mir (who won the SAARC Lifetime Achievement Award), Indian writer and journalist MarkTully and Subedi (who won the SAARC Literary Awards), but also environmentalists Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and Baba Sewa Singh from Punjab and archaeologist KK Muhammad. Each day is divided into two parts — academic discussions followed by reading sessions.

Full report here Indian Express

Oxford Literary festival on, scarce Indian participation

The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival is on from March 29 to April 5.

The Indian participation is limted to Aravind Adiga, last year's Man Booker-winner, who will discuss his novel The White Tiger.

Over 350 writers are in Christ Church to talk, debate, and discuss ideas at this year’s festival. Simon Schama, Ian McEwan, John Carey, AS Byatt, PD James, Robert Harris, the Orange prize-winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Niall Ferguson, Louis de Bernières, the biographers Richard Holmes and Michael Holroyd, Kate Adie, Howard Jacobson, David Starkey, Jenny Uglow, Andrew O'Hagan and Adam Phillips are just some of the authors who will be attending. With prices held at last year's levels, an inspiring programme for children throughout the week and a tempting selection of dinners, quizzes, films and other events, the festival provides a perfect spring break for book lovers.

Anti-India forces involved in mutiny, say Bangla authors

PTI is reporting that leading authors from Bangladesh are saying they do not have any doubt about involvement of anti-India forces and elements opposed to the liberation movement in the mayhem

Report:
Renowned authors, attending the SAARC festival of literature in Agra, were unanimous in pointing finger at " a country opposed to Bangladesh's liberation in fanning violence" as part of a "big conspiracy" to destabilise the Sheikh Hasina-led government. "I think elements opposed to India and opposed to creation of Bangladesh were behind the conspiracy," Khondakar Ashraf Hossain, a popular literary figure in Bangladesh, said without naming Pakistan.

Known as one of the finest voices on the literary horizon of the country, Ashraf alleged that "Pakistani ISI is working in Bangladesh" and there were reports that "crores of rupees have been given to common jawans to rise in rebellion."

"The big plan was to plunge the country into total chaos," he further alleged. Asked about the Bangla author's view, Pakistani writer Zahid Nawaz said the allegations were not acceptable. "We do not accept what has been said. We should live in peace and work for a peaceful environment around us," he said.

Over 70 army officers were killed in the revolt at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles last month.

Another renowned author Selina Hossain alleged that"some elements in former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party could have been involved in the horrible mutiny."

"It (mutiny) was a conspiracy against the democratically elected government," Salina, author of many popular books,said. Asked whether she believed ISI was also involved in the conspiracy, she said "I think so". Pointing fingers towards hardline Jamaat-e-Islami, anally of BNP, Selina said those who did not want the current government to carry out the trial of 1971 war criminals could have also played a role in the conspiracy. She said prosecution of war criminals will create problem for BNP and Jamaat as it will hurt them politically. "Even Pakistan does not want trial of the war criminals."

Pakistani government had sent a diplomat to Dhaka in February to request the Awami League government not to go ahead with the trial of the war criminals. Ashraf said the plan of the conspirators was to "create a1975-like situation in the country when most members of the Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's family were killed."

"They thought after the killing of the army officers, the army will move with tanks and machine guns and gun down mutineers. That would have created a chain reaction. The plan was to create a civil war kind of situation."

Agrees Muhmmad Samad, another writer from the country, who believed the conspiracy was "to destabilise the country as well as to stall the trial of those found guilty of war crimes." Critical of Khaleda Zia's "narrow politics", Samad, whois a professor at the Institute of Social Welfare and Researchin Dhaka University, claimed the BNP does not want strong and friendly ties with India. Ashraf, who is also Professor of English at the University of Dhaka, also praised India for extending support to Hasina so that she could tackle the situation.

"External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee did a very good job. He sent out a message saying that India was behind Bangladesh," he said adding, Indian government alerted BSF so that the mutineers cannot escape to India. Supporting Awami government's policy towards India,Selina said India sacrificed a lot to ensure freedom for Bangladesh. "It was Indira Gandhi who went to various countries to get support for freedom of Bangladesh."

The authors are attending the the literary festival organised by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL), where authors, academicians and peace activists from all the SAARC countries are participating.

Saarc lit meet calls for peace

Authors, activists and academicians from the SAARC region, including India and Pakistan, pledged to work to build more peace in the area.

Participants of the four-day SAARC Festival of Literature in Agra called for sincere efforts to have greater understanding across borders to take the region out of the "difficult phase".

Pakistani author Awais Sheikh too agreed that terrorism was the bigest threat to the region and it was time to work together to combat the menace.

Agra to host SAARC lit fest

The city of the Taj will host about 60 writers, poets and scholars from all the eight south Asian countries at the SAARC Festival of Literature, to be held in the city from March 13-16.

Besides literature, considerable attention is expected to be on terrorism, ethnic angst and popular culture. "The focus this year is on terrorism. The foundation is organising the festival at a time when expectations from the creative fraternity and peace activists have soared in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and sensitivities of the creative fraternity across the SAARC region, particularly in Pakistan and India, are shaken and bruised," festival founder Ajeet Caur said.

Caur set up the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature in 1997, which received the government seal in 1999.

13 writers from Pakistan and 8 from Afghanistan are to attend the festival. Afghanistan and Myanmar are participating at this annual festival for the first time.

Expected participants include Jayant Mahapatra, who will inaugurate the festival, Mahashweta Devi, Kapila Vatsyayan, Gulzar, Abid Hussain, M J Akbar, Mushirul Hasan, Seema Mustafa and Indira Goswami.