4th edn of Bengaluru lit fest to have awards too

The fourth edition of the Bengaluru Literature Festival (BLF), 2015 will, for the first time, confer literary awards in three categories - Best Fiction in English, Best Non-Fiction in English and Literary Achievement Award in Kannada.

As many as five names each have been shortlisted in the first two categories that includes the works of well-known writers such as Amitav Ghosh and Vinod Mehta. For the third category, the names are still being decided. A total prize money of Rs two lakh will be offered under the three categories. The awards will be offered in association with Bengaluru-based book store, Atta Galatta.

Literature and book lovers can also look forward to a number of new themes and highlights at the BLF this year. One of these will be the marking of two centenary themes, one on the World War I and another on Carnatic vocalist and Bharat Ratna awardee M S Subbulakshmi.

“Discussions on varied topics of these themes such as questions on lessons the World War I holds for world peace, especially in context of the Paris attacks; music as a healing factor and various others will be conducted. Other important aspects would be art installations on theme of World War I. There will also be a performance by Subbalakshmi’s granddaughter, Aishwariya Srinivasan, and her mother, Radha Vishwanathan, will also be present,” said Vikram Sampath, co-founder of the fest. 

The growing debate on ‘intolerance’ in the country has captured the headlines in recent days, with a number of authors returning their awards. This will be one of the themes for discussion at the fest. “The festival has a healthy mix of speakers that represents both sides of the debate,” said Sampath.

Kannada literature will also have a sizable part in the fest with a number of discussions with well-known writers like Narahalli Balasubramanya, Dayanand T K and Arif Raja, to name a few. The Makkala Koota for children and Lit Mart where wannabe authors get a chance at glory and a publishing deal, are some popular parts of the BLF from previous years that will be conducted even this year.

The funding
So far, funding for all the BLFs have come from a network of well wishers called Friends of BLF and the event has been supported to some extent by the State government.

Organizers, however, are now looking at corporate backing for future editions of the festival. “We are in talks with a few companies as of now. Monetarily, right now it is a hand-to-mouth existence and we have many constraints. Some amount of help is needed for the fest to grow. The Jaipur Literature Festival has a budget of around Rs 7 crore while that of the BLF, 2015 is just touching Rs one crore. With a bigger budget, we can even bring in Nobel laureates and more authors,” said Sampath.