JOIN USThere is a new reason for the book lovers of the City to rejoice. The first edition of Bangalore Literature Festival 2012, a three-day literary extravaganza, will be held at Jayamahal Palace from December 7 to 9.
The festival has been conceptualised by four young minds who share a passion for the written word - Vikram Sampath, Shinie Antony, Srikrishna Ramamoorthy and Alaham Anil Kumar.
“Several literature festivals have mushroomed in India over the last few years. As authors and bibliophiles, we should only welcome this trend where books and the creative process behind writing them is celebrated and shared with readers in an intimate gathering,” says award-wining author, Vikram Sampath. “This is going to be an annual flagship event in the City’s cultural and literary calendar, which the people can proudly proclaim as ‘Nammadu’,” he adds.
The idea behind the festival is to rekindle the romance of literature, especially among the youth. Over 50 authors like Ruskin Bond, Gulzar, Shashi Tharoor, Javed Akhtar, Mark Tully, Mahesh Dattani, Ramachandra Guha, Manu Joseph, Anita Nair, Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi among others are slated to attend. International authors like Tarquin Hall, Benjamin Law and Kirsty Murray may also grace the occasion.
There will be cultural programmes every evening like a Carnatic instrumental concert by Jayanthi Kumaresh, a Yakshagana performance by Keremane Shivananda Hegde and a musical feature by The Raghu Dixit Project.
There will also be an outreach programme for schools and colleges before the festival, which will try to foster the habit of reading and nurture new writing.
“All our future readers are still in classrooms. So, we thought we’d go to them with talks, author interactions, contests and book launches to cultivate that passion for books,” shares Shinie Antony.
Many of the City’s veteran authors are coming forward to be a part of the festival. “Usually, literature festivals see a lot of bald or grey heads all around. I’m very happy that it’s going to be a young festival,” says festival advisor and renowned writer Shashi Deshpande.
“It’s very hard for students and book lovers to go all the way to Jaipur for its literature festival. I’m hoping that Bangaloreans will make this the Jaipur of the South.”
Details of the festival can be found at www.bangaloreliteraturefestival.com