THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Booker Prize winner and Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka will be in the city to participate in the third day of the international book festival which is being held at the state legislative assembly. Writer and critic Sunitha Balakrishnan will interact with him at the ‘Meet the Author’ event at 4pm on Wednesday. Wednesday will also see the release of eight books including ‘Chitradarshanaghatam’ written by K Muralidharan, and ‘Koodozhiyumbol’ written by Mudakarin.
Saji Cherian, who was recently reinstated as a minister, will release ‘KPAC Sulochana: Kalayum Jeevithavum’ by Rajeev Puliyur at 11am, while General Education Minister V Sivankutty will release stanzas of the study written by Ratheesh Kaliyadan and Ashraf Thamarassery’s autobiography, ‘The Last Friend’, at 11.30am.
Rajeev O N V will release noted cartoonist Yesudasan’s autobiography, ‘Oruvattam Koodiyen Ormakal Meyunna’, and Dr Meena T Pillai will release Kalyani Vallath’s ‘A Contemporary Encyclopedia of Literature of the Americas’.
‘Pulapani Vaidayam-500’ by Daniel Simon Vaidyar will be released by Shiju Elias. The latter will also discuss his latest book ‘Che Guevara Life’.
There will also be a slew of other discussions, most notably on Sukumaran Chaligada’s ‘Bethimaran’ and Gomati Akka’s ‘Kolunth’.A panel discussion on the Malayalam drama movement will also be held at 11am. The final of the quiz competition conducted for high school and higher secondary level students will be held at 1pm. This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Malayalam Book Publishing Scene - History, Present and Future’ at 2pm.
At 2.45pm, Chief Secretary V P Joy will release the book ‘Karuppum Veluppum Mayavarnangalum’ written by noted lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi. A panel discussion on ‘Basic Science Against Superstition - Home / School / Society’ will follow. There will also be a discussion of the book titled ‘Poems of Murukan Kattakkada’.
Poets Kureepuzha Sreekumar, Vinod Vysakhi, Kanimol, Arya Gopi and Sumesh Krishnan will participate in the ‘Kavi Arangu’ at 4.15pm. Tiffany Brar, founder of Jyothirgamaya Foundation and winner of the Holman Prize 2020, will participate in the Vision Talk at 5pm.
A discussion on ‘Karimbuli Ro-Ro Pink Police’ written by GR Indugopan will also be held.Later, at 6:15pm, Pathanamthitta District Collector Divya S Iyer will speak on ‘Kayypitta Vazhikal’. Thiruvananthapuram Niyogam Natakavedi’s Reader’s Drama - Natacharitam and ‘Muralikrishna’s Band Box Live’ will wrap up the evening. The one-week festival began on Monday.
POWERPLAY
Power Minister K Krishnankutty released Sibin Haridas’ book ‘Quit India Samaranayakante Kadha Kuttikalkku’ by handing a copy to former minister A K Neelalohithadasan Nadar. The minister exhorted all to read Haridas’ latest book which chronicles the life of socialist leader and freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayanan. He said it was an ideal read given the current economic and social strifes of our times.
‘Nadacharitham’ drama to be screened today
T’Puram: ‘Nadacharitham’, a unique drama experiment in the form of readers’ theatre will be staged on Wednesday during the cultural event held in connection with the Kerala Legislature International Book Festival. Reader’s theatre is an adaptation of the art form where the props, costumes, and special lighting are avoided and the protagonists simply read out the narrative to the audience.