Words, warmth & winter cheer: A spirited start to the lit fest season

With warm handshakes and generous hugs, Shashi Tharoor welcomed guests to his residence for the curtain-raiser of the 9th edition of the Kerala Literature Festival. Beating the winter wrapped in a Kani shawl and braving the very poor air with a portable air purifier around his neck, he shared opening remarks at an evening that marked the countdown to KLF 2026, to be held at Kozhikode Beach from January 21–25.

“Kerala Literature Festival has always been more than just a festival,” he said, adding, “It’s a celebration of literature’s democratic spirit, its capacity to welcome diverse voices and forge meaningful connections. A spectacular light installation is planned for Kozhikode Beach this year. Light, after all, is literature’s gift, along with clarity amid confusion, warmth in isolation, guidance when we are all wandering lost in this world, particularly we politicians (laughs).” He added, "When German and Indian storytellers gather on the warm sands of Kozhikode Beach, they will reaffirm literature's timeless role in fostering compassion and creating thriving societies”

'Kerala is the place for literature in India'

“On this very cold night in Delhi, we dream of the warm nights of Kerala… Kerala is the place for literature in India,” remarked German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann, during his address. He added, “At KLF, we wish to showcase the modern, colourful, artistic, diverse and reflective literary side of new Germany. We believe in Germany that it was Hermann Gundert, a scholar and linguist, who loved Malayalam and Kerala, was the one who called the state ‘God’s Own Country’.”

Dr Michael Heinst, Director, Goethe-Institut Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore

‘Such cultural collaborations are also acts of quiet resistance’

Announcing Germany as the guest nation this year, Tharoor spoke about Indo-German ties in the literary space. He said, “The arrival of Germany in Kozhikode Beach is symbolising in many ways a meeting of minds, a confluence of two rich literary traditions that, though separated by thousands of miles, share a common commitment to exploring the human condition through the power of words. German literature has long engaged with questions that matter to thoughtful readers in India. I remember as an undergraduate at Delhi University, acting in a Miranda House production of Bertolt Brecht’s Saint Joan of the Stockyards. In an age where divisiveness threatens to splinter our world, such cultural collaborations are also acts of quiet resistance.”

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