Over the next four days, over 120
stalwarts and enthusiasts will converge at the National Centre for Performing
Arts (NCPA), India's premier cultural institution, to savour Mumbai’s most
awaited literary festival, which includes Tata Literature Live! First Book
Award and Landmark Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award.
The shortlist for the Tata Literature Live!
First Book Award, an award instituted to honor promising talent in the field of
literature, was announced today. This year, the award will be given for two In
the fiction category, the shortlisted authors are Chetan Raj Shrestha, a 34
year old architect from Sikkim, Gangtok, for his book, ‘The King’s Harvest’;
Shovan Chowdhury, a Delhi-based amateur humorist, for ‘The Competent Authority;
and Srikumar Sen, ex-journalist from The Times for the Non-fiction category
shortlist comprises Ananya Vajpeyi, a senior fellow with the American Institute
of Indian Studies, for her book, ‘Righteous Republic’; Saba Naqvi, political
editor of Outlook magazine, for ‘In Good Faith’; and Peter Smetacek, an
authority on Indian butterflies and moths, Veteran author Mark Tully, social
commentator Santosh Desai, senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, COO, Landmark,
Ashutosh Pandey and Festival Director, Anil Dharker are the jury for this
award.
Amish Tripathi, the bestselling author of the
Shiva Trilogy, Festival Director, Anil Dharker, Dr. Mukund Rajan, Brand
Custodian and Chief Ethics Officer of Tata Sons, and Khushroo Suntook, Chairman,
NCPA, unveiled the brochure of the festival, at a press briefing today,
heralding the start of Gracing the event, this year, are writers and thinkers
like Sir Nicholas Hytner, Nik Gowing, Ian Jack, Farrukh Dhondy, Francesca
Segal, Amitava Kumar, Charles Correa, Prof Rohit Deshpande, Girish Karnad, Lord
Meghnad Desai, Ravi Venkatesan, James Astill, Sir Mark An interesting event to
watch out for is an exhibition of unique cricket memorabilia by Boria Majumdar
that will coincide with Sachin Tendulkar’s participation in his career’s 200th
and last Test.
To observe the centenary of the Nobel Prize
to Rabindranath Tagore, the festival will proudly launch Harvard professor
Sugata Bose’s new translation of Gitanjali. Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar’s book, Young
Tagore, will also be released on the occasion. In keeping with the festival’s
tradition, there will be a special honour for outstanding contribution to the Indian
literary scene. This year’s recipient, Khushwant Singh, will be felicitated
with the Landmark Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award. In light of his
accomplishments, Khushwant Singh was a natural choice for the award this year.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mukund Rajan
said, “The Tata group is delighted to present the Tata Literature Live! The
Mumbai LitFest 2013 – a platform that offers India’s literature enthusiasts an
opportunity to experience diverse literature from across the globe. The
festival has a fabulous line-up of writers, thinkers and artists who will stimulate
intellectual dialogue through debates, panel discussions and performances.
The Tata group has been a patron of art and
culture from its inception and Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest is a
manifestation of the same heritage. Through this initiative, the group
endeavours to promote the cause of Literature and give a boost to the literary
culture in the country across all age groups, especially among the younger
generation. In the festival, platforms like Tata Literature Live! First Book
Award have been developed to discover and encourage new talent thus pushing the
boundaries of creativity. We wish the shortlisted candidates the very best of
luck.”
Anil Dharker says: "Tata Literature
Live! The Mumbai LitFest, is not only Mumbai`s own international literary
festival, it is now recognised internationally as one of our country`s very
best litfests. As always it will feature literature in all its forms, presented
by the liveliest minds, with engaging interaction between audiences and
participants. The line-up is exciting; entry is free, so anyone who loves words
and ideas should block these four days.”
Amish Tripathi said, “Exchanging ideas and
perspectives with fellow authors, writers, readers and artists from around the
world is an inimitable experience indeed. To prospects of interacting with fellow
literary enthusiasts at a platform like the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai
LitFest is exciting. I am really looking forward to this and will be happy to
be a part of it.”
Khushroo Suntook mentioned, “The NCPA
continues to be happy to be associated with Tata Literature Live, which has now
become a part of Mumbai’s cultural calendar. It is also delighted to make its
spaces available to the many intellectually stimulating discussions that
emanate from these meetings. This year, once again a fine array of writers and
thinkers will participate and I am sure that Mumbaikars are in for stimulating
four days.”
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will
present all four verticals of literature - fiction, non-fiction, poetry and
plays. Each day will see engaging panel discussions; book launches and conversations
between eminent authors, publishers and literary agents; poetry readings; and engrossing
talks and lectures by eminent experts.
Among the performances will be: Martin
Kiszko’s ‘More Green Poems for a Blue Planet’; Alyque Padamsee’s ‘Arthur
Miller: An Actor's Godsend’ and Antigone’s ‘A Stage Reading’. Naseeruddin Shah
will present extracts from Sadat Hasan Manto’s stories. Among the plays will be
a play for National Children’s Day, Mr. Jeejeeboy and the Birds; the sensation
from the Edinburgh Festival, The Price of Everything; the much acclaimed
Holocaust love story from Britain, The Tin Ring; The Killing of Dussasana, an
incredible blend of Spanish Flamenco and Kathakali; the Mumbai premiere of an
acclaimed play from Chennai, How to Skin a Giraffe and a unique show designed
around music, literature and Sufi music provided by Ahmedabad’s renowned
Deewana group.
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will
present for the first time an art and photography exhibition which investigates
the relationship between literature and art by inviting artists to create art
works inspired by Khushwant Singh’s autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little
Malice. On display will be paintings and photographs from illustrious artists
like Amit Ambalal, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpana Caur, Raghu Rai, Clare Arni,
Desmond Lazaro, Gigi Scaria and many other eminent artists.
Tata Literature Live! has grown exponentially
in terms of depth, quality and popularity on a year-on-year basis. It has
become immensely popular in Mumbai because it looks at literature in a manner that
complements the spirit of Mumbai: lively, energetic, free-wheeling and
cosmopolitan.
The festival will be free and on a
first-come, first-served basis. More details about entry are available on the
festival website, www.tatalitlive.in
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