Delhi set to witness the biggest Indian Literature Festival - Sahitya Aaj Tak at IGNCA

India's capital is soon to be the venue for the 4th edition of 'Sahitya Aaj Tak,' the much-acclaimed literature festival emphasizing on the importance of literature & art in today's times. The event will see renowned personalities from different fields like writing, publishing, music, media, business, theatre, cinema, etc. Some big names that will be a part of the event are Prasoon Joshi, Imtiaz Ali, Anand L. Rai, Prem Chopra, Saurabh Shukla, Kailash Kher, Roohani Sisters, Ravi Kishan, Pankaj Udhas, Irshad Kamil, Ruskin Bond, Pankaj Kapur, Chetan Bhagat and many more.

On the Hindi stage, director Imtiaz Ali will talk about love and singer Kailesh Kher will be performing Kailasa. Poet Kumar Vishwas will tell his story, Uday Prakash will talk about his literary journey and there will be a Sufi music session by Nizami Bandhu, soulful ghazal sessions by well-known shayars, a qawwali session by Roohani sisters, performance by singing sensation Shubha Mudgal, plays by veteran actors like Saurabh Shukla and much more.

Also, for the first time, the event will have a separate stage for English authors from India and South East Asia. Author Ruskin bond will talk about the thoughts behind his works and authors Anita Nair, Megha Pant and K.R. Meera will express their views on feminism.  Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai will talk about the politics of writing and Chetan Bhagat will engage with the audience while in conversation with renowned quiz master Siddhartha Basu. Many more such interesting sessions will be organized on the English stage.

This edition of Sahitya Aaj Tak will also see some of the finest regional language writers including Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Rajasthani, Punjabi, Oriya, Gujarati Marathi, Chhattisgarhi and more. Another interesting thing that is going to happen for the first time is an open mic stage called ‘Mic Ke Laal’. Emphasizing on the importance of the spoken word, people can freely express themselves on this stage and be heard and understood by keen listeners.

The event will also celebrate art through a showcase titled ‘Of Celebrations and Collaborations’. It will be an interaction between art and literature, exploring the myriad ways through which these fields entwine. Artists like Arpana Caur, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, K. G. Subramanyan, Chitra Ganesh, Sunandini Banerjee, and many others will participate in this exhibition curated by Hema Singh Rance.

The event will also have sessions by Durjoy Datta, Anand Neelakanthan, Kumar Vishwas, Shailesh Lodha, Swanand Kirkire, Udai Prakash, Malini Awasthi, Hans Raj Hans, Anup Jalota, Manoj Tiwari, Romesh Gunesekera, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Ashok Vajpeyi, Rahat Indori, Waseem Barelvi and more. A total of 100+ sessions are scheduled to be a part of Sahitya Aaj Tak’s art and literature festival.

They will interact with the audience and express their uncensored views, and no holds barred interactions, highlighting the importance of free speech. There will also be book launches by Pankaj Kapur, Romesh Gunesekera and Amruta Patil along with a special unveiling of Rajdeep Sardesai’s new book cover. It will be an impactful platform for expression through poetry, prose, music, and drama that will be held on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd November 2019 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. 

There is no entry fee for the festival. You can register for free at www.aajtak.in/sahitya (for Sahitya Aaj Tak) and www.aajtak.in/sahityaenglish (for Sahitya Aaj Tak English).