Lit fest focusing on Indian languages from today

The Book Brahma Literature Festival (BBLF), which debuted last year, kicks off in Bengaluru today. This year, the Festival will feature over 180 sessions across three days — from August 8 to 10. Organised by the Book Brahma Foundation, the event will be held at St John’s Auditorium, Koramangla. While English writing will also be discussed, the focus is on Indian languages. 

“This year’s festival is an evolved version of our first edition. Indian literature is not just English writing. Languages like Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu carry histories that are older and richer than English in many respects. Our festival aims to celebrate these languages,” festival director Satish Chapparike told Metrolife. 

More verticals, wider reach

The festival’s first edition featured five verticals (sessions conducted parallelly), and this year, the number has risen to eight. ‘Mantapa’ will host English sessions, ‘Mathana’ and ‘Akshara’ bring together the four southern Indian languages along with some sessions in Marathi, while ‘Angala’ is dedicated to Kannada sessions.

‘Anavarana’ will focus on book launches, with 40 titles launching this year, while ‘Mukhamukhi’ will host interactions between authors and small groups of readers under a tree. “It is a throwback to the distant past, when writers sat with their readers and conversed freely,” says Chapparike. ‘Pustaka’ will feature sessions by publishing houses.

Spotlight on children

This year, the festival has devoted a vertical, ‘Chinnara Loka’, to children’s literature. Focused on ages 6 to 18, the vertical will include 15 interactive and experiential sessions and three performances. “This vertical is not like a classroom; it is about giving children a taste of art, literature and culture so they grow with it,” the festival director explains.

Highlights:

The BBLF will feature eight major performances across the three days. The line-up includes a solo act, ‘Singaravva’ by theatre veteran Lakshmi Chandrashekhar, ‘Ranga Geete’ by B Jayashree and team, ‘Morning Melody’ by Praveen and Kiran Godkhindi, ‘Song of Rivers and Rain’ by Manasi Prasad and her team, a Karnatik vocal performance by T M Krishna, and ‘Duryodhanam’, a Kathakali performance by Bangalore Club for Kathakali and the Arts. 

Unlike most book festivals, which have elaborate inaugural functions, BBLF will open with a session called ‘Beyond Booker’, which will feature Banu Mushtaq, Deepa Bhasthi, Kaniskha Gupta and Moutushi Mukherjee — the team behind the Booker-winning ‘Heart Lamp: Selected Stories’. Young Telugu publisher Swetha Yerram will moderate the session.

This year, the Book Brahma Sahitya Puraskara will be awarded to Malayalam writer K R Meera, who will be present across the three days. 

With over 10,000 registrations already, the festival aims to “reinforce its place as an inclusive and language-driven literary platform”. Chapparike says, “Our focus is simple — to give Indian languages the space and respect they deserve.”

BBLF, August 8-10, St John’s Auditorium, Koramangla. For more details and to register, visit bookbrahmalitfest.com