Celebrate writing at this literary mela

BANGALORE: Literature festivals are passé; welcome to the literary carnival, where writing is not the exclusive domain of "serious books" -- or even books. In a carnivalesque literary space, writing of all kinds is celebrated - from path-breaking non-fiction and novel, short story and poetry to romance writing, business and travel writing and writing for the movies.
The Times Literary Carnival kicks off on Friday, and will be held over three days at the picturesque Jayamahal Palace hotel. In the run-up to the festival, which aims to engage with young audiences quite seriously with the theme 'New Voices in the New Age', writing contests have been held across colleges - including short story competitions, plays based on literary works and even a contest to set Shakespeare's sonnets to music. Winners of these contests will be given a chance to showcase their talent during the three-day fest.
Of course, the event also features a number of literary heavyweights and authors who constantly push the boundaries of their craft; among them are author Shashi Deshpande, who will make the keynote address on day 1, and Infosys Foundation chairperson and best-selling author Sudha Murty, who will be present during the inauguration. Day 1 will also see authors like Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, Zac O' Yeah, Rashmi Bansal, Ravi Subramanian, Anjum Hasan and Jahnavi Barua engaging in conversations as part of various panels. Well-known social psychologist Samuel Gosling, whose research into personality analysis has often informed the work of authors like Malcolm Gladwell, will be present at the fest. Gosling is also the author of the best-selling 'Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You', and will talk about his book on day 3.
Day 2's highlights include a keynote address by Bangladeshi author, photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam, as well as a session on travel writing with Fiona Caulfield, founder of the 'Love Travel Guides' series of luxury destination guidebooks, and a talk by Sudarshan Raghavan, an intrepid reporter and editor who has covered strife and development in Africa. Rana Dasgupta, whose books have won global acclaim, and Booker-prize nominated author Jeet Thayil will conduct what promises to be a riveting session on cityscapes. Dasgupta will also launch his new book, Capital.
Each day will see interesting sessions on cinema and film writing, including panel discussions with film-makers and writers like Hussain Zaidi, Neeraj Pandey, Madhur Bhandarkar, Kavitha Lankesh and Sudhir Mishra.
Contemporary and classical Kannada writing finds pride of place at the carnival, with several sessions that will give the audience a chance to interact with litterateurs like UR Ananthamurthy, Chandrashekhar Aijoor, B Jayaprakash, MS Ashadevi. Playwright Girish Karnad will be present on day 2 of the carnival to launch artist Paul Fernandes' book on Bangalore.
The endnote will be delivered by UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, who will talk about what young India wants.
NOTE THIS
3 days; 100+ authors; 50 sessions
Where: Jayamahal Palace Hotel, Jayamahal Road
When: January 24-26
Entry: Free
WHAT ELSE ON SHOW
Day 1: Prakash Sontakke's World Fusion concert (7 pm)
Day 2: Jazz concert by the Radha Thomas Ensemble (7 pm)
Day 3: Rock show by Thermal & A Quarter (7 pm)