The Sharpest Literature Festival in India

A.R. Venkatachalapathy

A.R. VENKATACHALAPATHY, Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, has taught at universities in Tirunelveli, Chennai, Singapore and Chicago. Apart from the V.K.R.V. Rao Prize (History, 2007), he has received the Vilakku Pudumaippithan Award (2018) and Iyal Virudhu (2021), both for lifetime contribution to Tamil. He has published widely on the social, cultural and intellectual history of colonial Tamil Nadu. Apart from his scholarly writings in English, he has written/edited over 30 books in Tamil. His publications in English include The Brief History of a Very Big Book: The Making of the Tamil Encyclopaedia, Tamil Characters: Personalities, Politics, Culture; Who Owns That Song?: The Battle for Subramania Bharati’s Copyright; The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes, and Scribblers in Colonial Tamilnadu; In Those Days There Was No Coffee: Writings in Cultural History. Presently he is working on biographies of Periyar and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. 

A.S. Dulat

A.S. Dulat, a former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, was an adviser on Kashmir in the Prime Minister’s Office.

A.S. Panneerselvan

Anita R. Ratnam

ANITA RATNAM is a celebrated performer of dance and theatre. As choreographer, writer, speaker and mentor her impact on the Indian performing arts has been recognised with awards and honours. As a culture catalyst, Anita’s work traverses a wide range — academia, youth outreach, motivational speaking and digital creation. 

Annie Zaidi

ANNIE ZAIDI writes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and scripts. She is the editor of Unbound: 2,000 Years of Indian Women’s Writing and the author of Gulab, Love Stories # 1 to 14, and Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales. She is also the co-author of The Good Indian Girl. Her work has appeared in several anthologies including Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean; Mumbai Noir; Women Changing India; and Griffith Review 49: New Asia Now. (blog/site: www.anniezaidi.com)

ANUJA CHAUHAN

ANUJA CHAUHAN writes bestselling novels (seven so far), which sometimes feature war, cricket, murder, and Lok Sabha elections, and always feature romance and humour. All of them have been optioned by major film studios. She also works in advertising and is best known for her work on Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Kurkure. She writes a fortnightly column for The Week magazine. She lives outside Bengaluru with her husband Niret Alva. They have three grown-up children and a varying number of dogs and cats.