BHUBANESWAR: The stage is set for the eighth edition of Odisha Literary Festival (OLF), Eastern India’s biggest and most stimulating literary platform. The two-day festival that has established itself as the most awaited and celebrated event in the cultur a l realm of Bhubaneswar will kick off on Saturday at 5 pm. As has been its speciality, the OLF this year too will present an electrifying conglomeration of the country’s top authors, scholars, filmmakers, m u s i c i a n s a n d politicians.
The festival will be inaugurated by Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal in presence of legendary poet Jayanta Mahapatra and Editorial Director of The New Indian Express (TNIE) Prabhu Chawla. Prof Lal will open the festival with a special address on ‘New Ideas for New India: The View from Raj Bhavan’ which will be followed by a conversation on ‘The Poetic As Personal: My Life in Words’ between Mahapatra and noted academician and author Prof Jatin Nayak.
The OLF will customarily conclude on Sunday with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik taking the stage to speak on ‘Rising From The East: What’s Next for Odisha?’. His impromptu interaction with Prabhu Chawla has become the novelty of OLF over the years and is keenly watched in the State and country for having a glimpse into the mind of the usually r e t i c e n t C h i e f Minister. The inaugural day’s schedule includes a riveting discussion on ‘Partitions of the Mind: Why Manto’s Words Live’ by actor, filmmaker and activist Nandita Das.
It will be followed by the launch of ‘No Regrets: The Guilt-Free Woman’s Guide to a Good Life’ book, authored by eminent journalist and OLF curator Kaveree Bamzai. The day will end with a session on ‘Tagore in the Dark’ by classical pianist and music educator Anil Srinivasan. The second day will begin with an exhilarating storytelling session for children by Gillian Wright who will narrate her stories like ‘Misthi the Mirzapuri Labrador’ and other tales.
Detective fiction writer and novelist Kalpana Swaminathan will talk about ‘Transforming Fact into Fiction’ with author Deepanjana Pal, which will be followed by a crime writing session by authors Damyanti Biswas and Kishwar Desai. Celebrated author and veteran BBC journalist Mark Tully will speak about his journeys through India in a session titled ‘Conversation On The Road: Stories From Inside India’. In the following session, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri will discuss ‘Matinee Ideal: From Netaji to Modiji’ with journalist Ashutosh.
The second day will see another unique concert ‘Music in the Mind’ by Srinivasan, which will be followed by a debate on history between authors and columnists Sanjay Dixit, Samhita Arni, Ratan Sharda and Saba Naqvi. Writer Debashish Panigrahi and young authors Tarab Khan and Saqti Mohanty will deliberate on ‘Word in Odisha:Dead or Alive’ in a session moderated by Gourahari Das. The next session on ‘Women’s voices in literature’ will be participated by authors Deepanjana Pal, Shanta Gokhale, Kishwar Desai, Minnie Vaid and Samhita Arni.
OLF takes off today
Lok Sabha MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab and Meenakshi Lekhi along with activist, author, politician Jaya Jaitly and Ashutosh will have a debate on the trend on ‘Political Biographies’. Chairman of Odisha Skill Development Authority Subroto Bagchi will hold a masterclass on ‘How To Sell Your Skills and Win the World’ and his session would be followed by a discussion on ‘Writing About Kashmir’ between authors Siddhartha Gigoo, Shonaleeka Kaul, Lt Gen Ata Hasnain, Khalid Shah and Aman Hingorani.