Two-day MILAP at Manipal

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) will launch the third edition of its two-day annual literary festival-Manipal International Literature and Arts Platform (MILAP) at Dr TMA Pai Hall, Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal from November 9 onwards.

MILAP Convener Prof Dr Neeta Inamdar said the two-day literary festival would be inaugurated by the award-winning playwright and director Mahesh Dattani, and MAHE Vice Chancellor Prof Dr H Vinod Bhat would preside over the inaugural ceremony. This edition of the fest will revolve around the theme of ‘Creative Expressions in the Digital World’, she added.

The fest is expected to draw together artists, filmmakers, novelists, critics, and performers with varied professional backgrounds. The discussions will focus on the transformative impact of digital media and the innovations sparked by digitisation of literature and visual arts, Neeta said.

The two-day event will include literary sessions, cultural performances and a book fair. The inaugural day will witness the release of three major publications of Manipal Universal Press (MUP) - ‘The Word and the World’, authored by Prof H S Shivaprakash; ‘Decolonial Existence and Urban Sensibility: A Study of Mahesh Elkunchwar’, authored by Dr Sayan Dey and ‘Culture and Creativity: Selected Writings of N Manu Chakravarthy’, authored by Prof N Manu Chakravarthy.

She said in the two-day festival, the literary meet sessions include variety of discussions and the impact of digital media on storytelling and readership, the creation of digital libraries and publication of hardcovers in the era of e-readers, to the digital cooking trends where mobile devices had sneaked their way into kitchen.

Further, a few interactive sessions are designed to address the content-production in digital streaming platforms such as Hotstar, Amazon Prime and so on along with the production of music in digital space.

This edition will also commemorate the legendary playwright, actor Girish Karnad by staging the performance of his critically acclaimed play ‘Rakshasa Tangadi’ by Ninasam Tirugata, and organising a special display of his works in ‘Karnad Corner’.

Sahitya Akademi award recipient Mahesh Dattani willbe keynote speaker. Film critic and historian Amrit Ganger, actor Prakash Belawadi and others will be present.