KOCHI: Buoyed by the grand success of the first edition of the Krithi International Book Festival held in Kochi from March 1 to 11, the government has decided to make Kochi the permanent venue for the literary festival.
Announcing the decision, Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran told reporters the Krithi Book Festival has earned recognition as the third largest book festival in India after Delhi and Kolkata book fairs. The second edition of the book fest will be held from February 8 to 17, 2019, at Marine Drive in Kochi. As many as 300 stalls and 150 publishers will participate in the event.
The Sahithya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS), in association with schools, will organise statewide programmes to attract students to the world of literature. The programme will start in July, and apart from presenting Karoor and DC memorial awards, the SPCS will publish some select literary works of the students. The ‘one book for each student’ project will be extended across the state and the fest will be held in a manner helpful to the libraries. The plan is to make Krithi the biggest book festival in south India with the help of the Departments of Culture and Finance, the minister said.
Ahead of the Book fest, the government will organise workshops across the state on the subject ‘Write and publish’ to encourage budding talents. However, it has been decided to avoid programmes at Bolgatty Palace as it is expensive and far away from the book fest venue.
All literary discussions will be held at the Marine Drive venue only. In the first edition, there were five venues for the literary festival and 296 writers delivered lectures. In the second edition, we will try to limit the number of lectures and make it more professional, he said.