Celebrity writer Benyamin, who had set a fresh trend through his 2008 Malayalam novel ‘Aadu Jeevitham’, will be participating in the Kovalam Literary Festival(KLF) slated to begin here next month.
The 41-year-old author, who has been working in the Gulf for the past two decades, would read from his select works at the final session of the two-day Kerala leg of the international literary event ending October 7. Benyamin would then converse with another path-breaking Malayalam writer N S Madhavan, a retired bureaucrat who divides time between Delhi and Patna.
“I hope this will be a great opportunity to meet and hear world-class writers. I am looking forward to my sessions at the KLF,” says Benyamin, who was born as Benny Daniel in a verdant village of Pathanamthitta district in south-central Kerala. “Benyamin is a master of timing in telling a story,” N S Madhavan complimented.
In the penultimate session, film critic Anna M M Vetticad would read from her new book ‘The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic’, said writer Binoo K John, founder-director of KLF.
The theme of Benyamin’s ‘Aasu Jeevitham’ which tacitly deals with human rights violation, would be the same theme that would be in focus at the first session of KLF 2012 here. The Kerala leg would start with a lecture on October 6 by eloquent human rights activist Binayak Sen. The Kerala leg of KLF at Kanakakunnu Palace will have 16 sessions, before an evening of two rock-band concerts at Nishagandhi auditorium.
This year too, KLF has a Delhi leg. It would be held on October 3 at India International Centre (IIC), where Booker Prize-shortlisted author Jeet Thayil, also hailing from Kerala, will read from his novel ‘Narcopolis’.
This will be followed by a conversation between Thayil and renowned writer-publisher David Davidar.
Altogether, KLF 2012, would have 23 literary sessions, seven of them in Delhi. The festival has Kerala Tourism as one among the chief sponsors and The New Indian Express would be the media partner.