Naseeruddin Shah, Venki Ramakrishnan, Paul Lynch to attend KLF 2025

New Delhi: Veteran actor-duo Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, Nobel laureates Venki Ramakrishnan and Esther Duflo along with Booker prize winner Irish novelist Paul Lynch are in the first list of speakers attending the eighth edition of Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), announced the organiser on Thursday.

Expecting six lakh visitors, the four-day festival, starting January 23, will have a global participation of 500 speakers from 15 countries including the UK, the USA, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, the UAE, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Greece.

Organised by DC Kizhakemuri Foundation, the festival aims to cover a wide array of topics ranging from literature, politics, and art to science and film.

"With over 500 distinguished speakers from around the world, KLF 2025 will be an unparalleled platform for intellectual exchange, creativity, and collaboration. As we continue to grow, our aim is to make this festival a global meeting point for diverse voices, inspiring new ideas and a deeper understanding of the world around us,” said Ravi Deecee, chief facilitator of KLF, in a statement.

Also featuring on the first list of speakers are author and MP Shashi Tharoor, poet-novelist Jeet Thayil, International Booker Prize winners Jenny Erpenbeck and Georgi Gospodinov, and historians Ramachandra Guha and William Dalrymple.

France will be the guest country at the festival this year, promising visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in the French language, art, and philosophy through a series of events to highlight the deep literary and artistic traditions of the country.

The list also includes names like author of bestselling book "Ikigai" Francesc Miralles, writer-physician Abraham Verghese, French thinker Cheyenne Oliver, Japanese illustrator Mariko Shinju, British novelist Sophie Mackintosh, French crime writer Johana Gustawsson and poet Arundhathi Subramaniam.

"French author Philippe Claudel, German poet Michael Hoffman, journalist-author Dan Morrison, poet T Sumathy and British Science author Angela Saini are also the among speakers participating in KLF 2025," said the organisers in a statement.

Besides literary dialogues, the festival will also host musical performances by the likes of legendary flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, violin maestro L Subramaniam and more.

The highlight of the festival will also be ‘Children’s KLF’, a dedicated space for young readers.

Supported by leading children’s book publishers and authors, the initiative aims to ignite a love for literature in younger generations through engaging storytelling sessions, workshops, and outreach programs in local schools.

The festival will come to a close on January 26.