With the successful launch of The Hindu's Lit for Life, presented by Hirco, in Delhi on September 25, the spotlight now turns to Chennai. The two-day conclave will have authors, academics, filmmakers and publishers gathering at Hyatt Regency to discuss the various avatars of literature.
The first session on October 29 sees Mohammed Hanif and Tahmima Anam discuss writers from the sub-continent with Ziya us Salam. While Latha Anantharaman and Rahul Bhattacharya talk about the whys and hows of travel writing; Tamil writers Bama and P. Sivakami, academic Susie Tharu and journalist Siddharth Varadarajan look at “Is Writing a Healing?” Publishers Ravi Singh, V.K. Karthika, Urvashi Butalia and Saugata Mukherjee pitch in with “The Other Side of Books”. A.R. Rahman and Nasrin Munni Kabir strike “The Right Chord” while Zac O' yeah undertakes “The Tragedy Workshop”.
Day two (October 30) begins with a discussion on “The Scent of Paper” between writers Kavery Nambisan and K. Srilata. Scriptwriter Anjum Rajabali and filmmakers Balu Mahendra, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao and K. Hariharan discuss films in “Freeze Frame”. Urvashi Butalia reappears to talk to Shabana Azmi about “Unlimited Spirit”. As Mini Krishnan and Arunava Sinha conduct a “Translations Workshop”, Shashi Tharoor, Mukul Kesavan and Rahul Bhattacharya take a look at “Playing Fields”. The final session has well known author Vikram Seth discuss “The Rivered Earth” with Nisha Susan.
The grand finale will be the announcement of the winner of The Hindu Literary Prize.
For more details on sessions, see page 4.
Presenting Sponsor: HIRCO; Associate Sponsors: Shriram City, Rado; Session Sponsors: Club Mahindra, Penguin, Harper Collins, Om Books, Spotlight; Travel Support: Le Passage to India; Venue Support: Hyatt Regency; Gift Sponsor: Seshasayee Paper and Boards Ltd., Creative Consultant: Siyahi
