Mumbai’s biggest international literature festival, TATA Literature Live, is being flagged off on October 29th, quite in competition with the 17th Mumbai Film Festival aka MAMI. The four day celebration of literary genius will take place in two of the city’s landmark venues- National Council of Performing Arts (NCPA) and Prithvi Theatre.
The sixth Mumbai international literature festival is bringing together more than 120 distinguished speakers, authors, journalists and commentators from around the world. While prominent Indian novelist, playwright, critic and screenwriter Kiran Nagarkar will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award, we’re still guessing who will win big in these categories- Poet Laureate Award, Book of the Year (Fiction), Book of the Year (Non Fiction), Business Book Award as well as the First Book Award in both Fiction and Non Fiction categories.
The four day festival is not just about books though. One can expect to catch some interesting stage performances, book launches and workshops too. A lot is happening and it’s easy to miss out. But you could check out these highlights if you want to make sure you don’t miss the main action-
Day 1: Thursday, October 29th
1. Vikram Seth In Conversation With Germaine Greer
The opening ceremony is a face off between Padma Shree awardee, Indian novelist and poet Vikram Seth and Australian feminist voice, Germaine Greer. While they will begin the session with a discussion about ‘Can Books Change the World?’, they’re bound to get into an entertaining debate over feminism and the various subjects of Seth’s novels, the likes of A Suitable Boy.
(2:00 to 4:00 PM, NCPA, Sea View Room)
2. The Mystery Of the Missing Authors
An interesting panel comprising four renowned authors- Anuja Chauhan, Ashwin Sanghi, Malavika Sangghvi and Shovon Chowdhury, will take us through the books they read as children and of course, the bigger point of the why it is important for children to take a keen interest in reading. Maybe they’ll share some tips for young parents to help them get their kids hooked on to books from an early stage, instead of the internet.
(5:00 to 6:00 PM, NCPA, Little Theatre)
3. Debate: Freedom of Expression Is In Imminent Danger
Shobha De and Sudheendra Kulkarni fight for the motion while actor Anupam Kher and BJP advocate Nalin Kohli speak against the motion. BBC’s star anchor and journalist Nik Gowing will moderate this heated discussion.
(8:00 to 9:30 PM, NCPA, Tata Theatre)
Day 2: Friday, October 30th
1. Based On a True Story
Investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi, banker-author Ravi Subramaniam and American columnist Adam Minter talk about the challenges and excitement of turning thrilling reportage into fiction.
(12:00 to 1:00 PM, NCPA, Little Theatre)
2. Drawn To It
Graphic novelist Arjun Gain and Israeli illustrator and comic book artist Rutu Modan talk about the evolution of graphic novels and how they’re NOT the same as comics.
(3:30 to 4:30 PM, NCPA, Little Theatre)
Day 3: Saturday, October 31st
1. Will Women Always Be the Second Sex?
Australian author and feminist Germaine Greer in conversation with Egyptian-American journalist and commentator Mona Eltahawy about the status of women in present day society. This session will be moderated by Indian author Shobha De and is likely to take the day by storm.
(10:30 to 11:30 AM, Prithvi Theatre)
2. Asli Desi Kaun
Literatur professor Jonathan Gil Harris, actor Kalki Koechlin, fiction writer Mahesh Rao talk about what it really means to be ‘authentically Indian’. This one’s going to be an interesting one especially because its being chaired by Indian stand up coming Anubhav Pal.
(12:00 to 1:00 PM, NCPA, Experimental Theatre)
Day 4: Sunday, November 1st
1. What’s Your Beef
Avirook Sen, the author of Aarushi, based on the notorious Aarushi Talwar murder case moderates this panel discussion on why India seems to be becoming more and more intolerant as a society. Indian author Arshia Sattar, journalist-novelist CP Surendran and professor of media studies Vamsee Juluri are likely to stir up a relevant and heated discussion given the recent beef ban.
(10:30 to 11:30 AM, NCPA, Godrej Theatre)
2. Eating Habits In Ancient India
A straight talk by one of India’s most popular modern day mythology experts. Devdutt Patnaik explores the tradition of eating with reference to our evolving culture of banning. This promises to be the most scrumptious session of them all.
(12:00 to 1:00 PM, Prithvi Theatre)
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