KOZHIKODE: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday exhorted writers and readers to fight the forces that disrupt unity in society. Inaugurating the sixth edition of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) in Kozhikode, he said literary gatherings can provide energy for the fight.
KLF has become the icon of Kozhikode like Biennale for Kochi and film festival for Thiruvananthapuram. People lament that reading is dying, but it will never happen in Kerala, Pinarayi said.
Booker prize-winner Shehan Karunathilaka, Tamil Nadu Minister for Finance Palanivel Thiagarajan, Minister for Finance K N Balagopal, Ports Minister Ahmed Devarkovil, renowned singer Usha Uthupu, Jnanpith-winner M T Vasudevan Nair, M K Raghavan, MP, Ravi Deecee and others attended the function.
Various sessions, including on possibilities of translation, genetics of publishing, queer literature, return of legends, women’s sexuality and modern India, love and romance in Malayalam novels, scientific temper, crime fiction and protection of Western Ghats, were held on the first day.
Dignitaries, including Nobel prize winner for Chemistry Ada E Yonath, writer William Dalrymple, actor Mukesh, actor and writer Madhupal, K R Meera, Didi Damodaran and I Shanmughadas, addressed different sessions.