The lit fest circuit of Thiruvananthapuram will be set rolling this week with the Kovalam Literary Festival being held on October 6 and 7 at Kanakakkunnu Palace. With reading sessions featuring two contemporary women novelists from Israel, the launch of a new historical fiction by Biman Nath and Binayak Sen delivering the K C John memorial lecture, there is a whole lot to look forward to at the fifth edition of KLF.
Sarai Shavit, the two-book-old Israeli author, will read from her novel, ‘India Express’. Originally published in Hebrew, the book is set in New Delhi where Shavit has spent time during her family’s intermittent visits to India. Writer and TV presenter from Israel Dorit Rabinyan will read from her new book ‘Our Weddings’. The novel revolves around family values and the idea of marriage in Israel’s highly conservative society.
The festival, sponsored by Muthooth and Vivanta by Taj, will host around twenty writers in six sessions.
The Delhi leg of the festival, featuring author Jeet Thayyil, will be held on October 3, where he is expected to read from his new novel ‘Narcopolis’ which has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Thiruvananthapuram’s circuit of literary festivals went live a few years ago with the fall season witnessing them arriving in bunches to the city. KLF was one of the first to show up in the otherwise laid back town.
The festival, started in 2008, introduced a platform that was at par with international literary fests where the reading public could interact with writers, critics and publishers.
The Hay Fest stepped in soon, scheduling a stopover in the city in the month of November since 2010. The DC Book Fest has coincided with the season in the past years apart from other festivals with an accent on vernacular writing cropping up around the same time.
The K C John Memorial Lecture, which will mark the beginning of the festival, will be delivered by activist Binayak Sen. He will talk on the subject, ‘Are the Poor Getting Poorer’. London-based journalist Monisha Rajesh will read from her book, ‘Around India in 80 Trains’, which is due to be released later in the month.
Farrukh Dhondy, Timeri Murari, N S Madhavan, Nilanjana Roy and C P Surendran will share their thoughts on ‘the evolving Indian Novel’. Israeli musician Tal Kravitz and the iconic desi rock band Indian Ocean will perform at Nishagandhi auditorium as part of the festival.
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