7th Edition Of Kerala Literature Festival Makes A Comeback
As per a media report in Livemint, on 11 January, Kozhikode will host the seventh edition of the Kerala Literature Festival, a city that has been the festival's home since 2016. This edition is particularly significant as Kozhikode has recently earned the title of India's first City of Literature by UNESCO.
“The key reason for Kozhikode's recognition by UNESCO is KLF. KLF hosts about a half billion people during the four-day event. The carefully curated range of speakers is something that sets us apart”, pointed out Chief Facilitator of the festival Ravi DeeCee. About 500 speakers are slated to participate in 250 sessions this year.
The four-day festival, co-promoted by DC Books and organised by DC Kizhakemuri Foundation, has consistently captured the attention of readers from across India and beyond. Since the beginning, the idea was to connect the readers with the authors, Deecee brings out.
“Readers often gather in enclosed spaces like public libraries and small gatherings. We wanted to take these gatherings to open spaces and get readers to interact with each other and the authors. Over the years we have brought people from different genres under one roof”, Deecee elucidates. The festival serves as a platform for discussions covering socio-cultural issues, technology, business, and literature.
This year's festival has designated Turkey as the guest country of honour, with the UK, Spain, Japan, the US, Malaysia, and France participating. “About 10 authors from Turkey will be discussing Turkish literature, history and architecture. There will also be Turkish music and performances. Interestingly, Turkey is completing 100 years as a republic this year and KLF is the only literature festival they are participating in as a focus”, Deecee states.
Renowned authors such as Shashi Tharoor, P. Sainath, Arundhati Roy, Jerry Pinto, Anita Nair, Vivek Shanbhag, Preeti Shenoy, William Dalrymple, Benyamin, and K.R. Meera are part of the diverse line-up. Panel discussions at the festival will span topics ranging from AI and cricket to democracy. “There will be seven to eight sessions on AI-related topics and one or two will talk about how AI can affect the creative writing space and the ethics of it”, Deecee mentions.
Moderating a panel discussion on the representation of the queer community in literature would be Urvashi Butalia, a writer and co-founder of Kali for Women, India's pioneering feminist publishing house. The conversation will feature Perumul Murugan, the recipient of the 2023 JCB Prize for Literature, discussing his book, Fire Bird, with novelist T.D. Ramakrishnan and editor Manjula Narayan. “With all these sessions, it’s not just about author and reader interactions but also value addition. What are the attendees gaining from these discussions? How much knowledge can the speakers disseminate? We are guided by these questions when we select speakers and moderators,” Deecee clarifies.
KLF is set to feature cultural performances and exhibitions, with special presentations on calligraphy and Turkey's centennial as a republic. “We want youth to engage in reading literature, discussing what’s happening in the country and around the world. Over 60 per cent of our attendees are below the age of 35 so we hope this festival gives them ample opportunities to connect, debate and learn,” Deecee tells.
