It has not taken the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) long to earn a prominent place in the State’s cultural landscape. After a three-year break, necessitated by the pandemic, the KLF is back in the physical world (it was held online in 2021).
The sixth edition will get under way on the Kozhikode beach on Thursday. It promises plenty for the book lovers of Malabar and beyond over the next four years.
Writers such as Shehan Karunatilaka, who won the Booker Prize three months ago, Arundhati Roy, Shashi Tharoor, Nobel laureates Ada Yonath and Abhijit Banerjee, historians William Dalrymple, Yuval Noah Harari, Ramachandra Guha, Manu S. Pillai, actors Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Mukesh, and Indrans are among those who will speak at sessions that will deal with a variety of topics.
Around 500 speakers, including those from countries such as the United States, UK, Spain, Israel, and New Zealand, will speak in 248 sessions, in fact.
“This is going to be the biggest edition of the KFL yet,” the festival’s chief facilitator Ravi Deecee told The Hindu. “In 2020, the footfall for the festival was around three lakh. We expect that number to go up to four or five lakh this time,” he added.
He said he was glad that the festival had evolved as something that was not just literature. “For instance, we have been able to line up several prominent economists this time around. We are also screening films, besides conducting music shows. We have launched an app, KLF, which can be downloaded on the phone,” he said.
Popular singers like Usha Uthup and Remo Fernandes will speak and perform. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival in the presence of writers M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Karunatilaka, among others.
