The sixth edition of the Kerala Literature Festival will begin on Thursday at the Kozhikode beach. , Photo credits: K. Ragesh
It hasn’t taken much time for the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) to earn a prominent place in the cultural landscape of the state. After a three-year break, necessitated by the pandemic, the KLF is back in the physical world (it was slated to be held online in 2021).
The sixth edition will begin on Thursday at Kozhikode beach. It promises to have a lot in store for book lovers in Malabar and beyond over the next four years.
Shehan Karunatilaka, who won the Booker Prize three months ago, Arundhati Roy, Shashi Tharoor, Nobel laureates Adah Yonath and Abhijit Banerjee, historians William Dalrymple, Yuval Noah Harari, Ramachandra Guha, Manu S. Writers like Pillai, actor Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Mukesh and Indran are among those who will speak in the sessions that will deal with a variety of topics.
Nearly 500 speakers will actually speak in 248 sessions, including countries such as the United States, Britain, Spain, Israel and New Zealand.
“This is going to be the biggest edition of KFL ever,” said Ravi DC, the main host of the festival. Hindu, “In 2020, the footfall for the festival was around three lakh. We are hopeful that this time this number will increase to four or five lakhs.
He said that he is happy that the festival has evolved into something that is not just literature. “For example, we have been able to line up several prominent economists this time. We are also screening films apart from organizing concerts. We have launched an app KLF, which can be downloaded on phones ‘
Popular singers like Usha Uthup and Remo will speak and perform. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival in the presence of writers MT Vasudevan Nair and Karunatilaka, among others.