Galaxy of writers in Bengaluru for literary festival

The 10th edition features 160 authors and speakers, including some from abroad

The Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), which chose a mix of virtual and offline sessions last year, is holding all events on the ground this time.

More than 160 authors and speakers are part of the 10th edition of the festival, slated for December 18 and 19. Among them are Chetan Bhagat, Shashi Deshpande, Vivek Shanbhag, Jeet Thayil, Preeti Shenoy, Josy Joseph, Rukmini S, Ravi Venkatesan, former chairman of Microsoft India, and historian V Sriram.

Indian-American author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, New York Times best-selling author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, Bollywood director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, tennis star Sania Mirza, speaking about their works. Singer Remo Fernandes joins online for a tete-a-tete with Vasundhara Das, who will be at the venue.

Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, co-founder of the festival, says, “Interesting conversations on fiction and non-fiction, Indian cinema, Covid-19, and the languages of Karnataka are lined up.”

Gagandeep Kang, microbiologist, virologist and professor at CMC Vellore, speaks about her book ‘Till We Win’ and India’s fight against the pandemic. ‘Covid Baggage: The Emotional and The Physical’ is a talk by scientific advisor Narendra Chirmule.

A session on biographies features Sugata Srinivasaraju (Deve Gowda), Debashish Mukerji (V P Singh) and Rajiv Vijaykar (Lakshmikant-Pyarelal and Dharmendra).

For details, check bangaloreliteraturefestival. org or follow @blrlitfest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Karnataka tongues

The festival features sessions on the many languages of Karnataka, focusing on Tulu, Konkani, Beary, Koraga, Halakki, Arebashe, Havyaka, Kundapura Kannada, Navayati, and Sanketi.

Remember

When: Festival opens on Dec 18 at 10 am and ends on Dec 19, 7.30 pm.

Where: Bangalore International Centre, Domlur.

Entry is free.

Must-attend sessions

Saturday, Dec 18

10 am: The Last Queen — Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni with Akhila Krishnamurthy

11 am: How to Find Your Magic Place — Preeti Shenoy with Vani Mahesh

11.15 am: The Stranger in the Mirror — Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra with Niranjan Thade

12.15 pm: Konkani: One Language Multiple Scripts — Damodar Mauzo, Melvyn Rodrigues and Vivek Shanbhag

6 pm: 400 Days: Sequels and Bestsellers — Chetan Bhagat with Vani Mahesh

Sunday, Dec 19

10 am: Revisiting The Educational Heritage Of India — Sahana Singh and Mohandas Pai with Vikram Limsay

10.15 am: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone — Lori Gottlieb with Shrabonti Bagchi

12 pm: Subversions: Essays on Life and Literature — Shashi Deshpande with Indira Chandrashekhar

1 pm: The Silent Coup: A History of India’s Deep State — Josy Joseph with Nitin Pai

6.15 pm: Featuring Jeet — Reading by Jeet Thayil