CHENNAI: The second edition of the Chennai Queer LitFest will take place at Kavikko Mandram in Mylapore on September 14 from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Organised by Queer Chennai Chronicles, the crowd-funded event hopes to bring light to queer literature, art and perspectives about and from India. “Queer literature by queer people offers an insight to their lived experiences. Many cis authors have tried to capture the queer experience to varying degrees of success. The panels will feature queer and cis authors, so that the participants and the literature community at a large can have a discussion on representation in art,” says C Moulee, organiser, Queer Chennai Chronicles.
The themes this year will be inclusive children’s literature, art in queer literature, translation and queer literature in Tamil and Malayalam. Moulee says the themes have been chosen to highlight the strong gendering present in the art forms.
The line-up this year features a variety of contributors such as writer and artist Hari Rajaledchumy, writer Kishor Kumar, writer and translator V Geetha and illustrator Vaijayanthi. South Chennai Constituency Member of Parliament and poet Dr Thamizhachi Thangapandian will deliver the keynote address at the event.