Srinagar: Kumaon Literary Festival, India’s coveted and travelling literary festival is all set to be held in the summer capital from October 19 to 20.
The event will feature various sessions on literature and cinema highlighting many aspects of art and culture.
Announcing the festival, Asha Batra, co-founder of the Festival said, “India has been a global hub for arts and culture for centuries; the setting and inspiration for celebrated works of literature, drama and art, and home to artists and writers from around the world. The festival brings together brilliant and unique minds from various genres of the creative world. We are extremely excited to host this edition of Fest in Srinagar and look forward to making art and literature lovers in Kashmir on a creative journey. We have a very impressive line-up of speakers this year along with some interesting book launches and discussions.”
The Kashmir Edition is being held in association with KYARI, Kashmir’s Yumberzal Applied Research Institute. Arhan Bagati, KYARI founder and the host of Kashmir Edition said, ”the Fest will see participation of many eminent writers and literary persons from the region such as, Neerja Mattoo, Nirupma Kotru, Saleem Beg, Sanjay Raina, Siddhartha Gigoo, Aditya Raj Kaul, Ajay Raina, Dinesh Manzoor Bhat, Khushboo Mattoo, Nusrat Durrani, Tamanna Slathia and Tsering Gurmat.”
The organisers said each year, the festival promotes literature and cinema with numerous innovative initiatives. This year, the festival will have eminent speakers like Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, Ashwin Sanghi, India’s highest selling fiction author, Rahul Rawail, veteran filmmaker, Divya Dutta, Actor, Rahul Mittra, award winning filmmaker, Jameel Gulrays, Katha Kathan founder, Bhawana Somaaya, veteran journalist, Anant Vijay, senior journalist and author, Pavan Jha, film historian, Shantanu Ray Chaudhari, publisher. Renowned authors like Kiran Manral, Yatindra Mishra, Jai Arjun, Anu Singh, Mona Verma and will also grace the event with their presence.
Apart from these, books being launched and discussed, include ‘Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography’ by Parthiv Dhar and Anirudha Bhattacharjee, ‘The Magicians of Mazda’ by Ashwin Sanghi, ‘The Mystic and the Lyric: Four Women Poets from Kashmir’ by Neerja Mattoo, ‘Inked in India-Fountain Pens and A story of Make and Unmake’ by Bibek Debroy and Sovan Roy, ‘Raj Kapoor – The Master at Work’ by Rahul Rawail, ‘Letters to Self by Narendra Modi’, Translation by Bhawana Somaaya, ‘The Stars in My Sky’ by Divya Dutta, and many more.
The festival was founded in 2014 by Sumant Batra, a lawyer of global repute, author and cultural champion. The not-for-profit festival has held many successful editions attended by hundreds of literary luminaries and thinkers from around the world.
Kumaon Literary Festival is one of the first travelling literary festivals in the country which brings together creative minds to offer insights on matters relevant to the literature and our cultural life as a nation. Founded in 2014, the not-for-profit festival has held many successful editions attended by hundreds of literary luminaries and thinkers from around the world, and many Constitutional officeholders. It is produced by Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, with Sumant Batra as its managing trustee. Veteran filmmaker, Rahul Rawail, and actress Asha Parekh are among the prominent people on Foundation’s Board.