BENGALURU: Feels like we are back to pre-pandemic days with offline events making a comeback. After a quiet 2020, the 10th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) will take place on December 18 and 19, at Bangalore International Centre, Domlur. This year, there will be over 160 international, Indian and city authors and speakers at BLF, along with various other programmes.
Speaking to CE, co-founder of BLF Srikrishna Ramamoorthy says, “Unlike last year, this time, we are hosting an offline event. We know that the pandemic is still upon us, so we are anticipating about 500 people at the venue throughout the day and we will ensure that the visitors are double vaccinated.”
Programmes like AMA (Ask Me Anything) with an author, conversations on fiction and non-fiction writing, Indian cinema, tech and startups, music, art and so on will be events visitors can look forward to. “We have writers like Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Shashi Deshpande, Remo Fernandes, Jugal Hansraj, and more joining us this year,” says Ramamoorthy.
The highlight of the literature festival is the focus on languages of Karnataka, curated by Prateeti Ballal. It will include conversations around scripting a future for endangered languages, history of Kannada literature and fiction without boundaries. The sessions will focus on languages, including Tulu, Konkani, Beary, Dakhni Urdu, Arebhashe, Kundagannada, Sankethi and Kodava. Speakers like Kaveri Ponnappa, Sayeegeetha Hegde, Melvyn Rodrigues, Brinda Somaya, Gayathri Shetty, Shantala Anil, Vittal Shenoy, Seetharama Kevala, Vishwanatha Badikana, N A Mahamed Ismail and B M Haneef, among others, will be at BLF. “All of them have a lot to say and add to the topic and we look forward to the conversations they’ll bring forward,” says Ramamoorthy.
Like every year, BLF has partnered with bookstore Atta Galatta to give out the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize to honour the best English fiction, non-fiction and Kannada writing. Co-founder of the book store Subodh Sankar says, “Seven years ago we started this prize and it’s always great to recognise some of the well-deserved authors. BLF is a crowd-funded event and it’s great to have the recognition that it does.”
BLF’s founder and director Shinie Antony says, “Last year and this, the festival has an against-all-odds feel to it. We are itching to meet, listen and understand this new world around us, in person. All the sessions planned at the festival are a flashback as also a forecast. The Language of Grief panel, in particular, addresses the wounded psyche and the scrambling to cope, to survive this. No one is untouched by the continuing suspense and yet there is a practical hands-on approach to everything, including literature.” Bangalore Literature Festival is open to all. For registration, complete schedule and more, log on to bangaloreliteraturefestival.org