Romance to thrillers, it’s a fest for everyone

If you are already feeling the nip in the air and looking forward to the festive mood that is a speciality of Kolkata winters, then here’s a perfect way to usher in the eventful season.
The Times Lit Fest, which has become a rage in Delhi’s annual social calendar, is debuting in Kolkata finally on November 25. The day-long fest will be held at the Tollygunge Club.
There are many firsts in the fest.One among them is the fact that a large number of genres will be celebrated through well-designed sessions throughout the day. There will be a wide range of options for every reader. They’ll get to select from subjects such as sports, mythology, motivational writing, foreign writing, thriller, mysteries, culinary, fiction and poetry.
For instance, one cannot miss the session that will veer around cricket and its two local gods — Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami. One can be sure to get all the answers as the duo decode the 22-yard mystery.
Mythological writing has almost turned into a craze these days, thanks to writers like Amish Tripathi, who have been trying to take a relook at the tales that we have grown up listening to.
At the fest, you can meet writers like Anand Neelakantan and Kavita Kane and join them in some serious explanation of the stories that have always intrigued you. They will try to answer all your doubts surrounding your favourite mythical concepts and characters.
Motivational and selfhelp books by Allan and Barbara Pease are a rage in the West. In times like this, when stress levels have peaked and depression is an everyday word, inspirational writing is a genre to fall back upon and those by Allan and Barbara Pease simply fly off shelves the moment they are launched. You will actually get the duo to speak about how to handle life in its metamorphosed form now and they will take time off to answer your questions too.
Apart from the Peases, four other top writers from abroad will participate in different sessions at the fest. New York Times bestselling author Clare Mackintosh, Hallgrimur Helgason, Kjell Ola Dahl and Henry Eliot will speak in different sessions at the fest. Mackintosh, Helgason and Dahl are likely to enthral in the psychological thriller session.
The fest will have a simultaneous Bengali festival going and will not only see top authors like Shankar, Shirsendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha and Bani Basu among others, authors from Bangladesh like Anisul Haque, Selina Hussain and Farah Ghuznavi have confirmed participation. Bangaldeshi actor Jaya Ahsan will also attend the event. A session on romantic writing will see top authors like Preeti Shenoy, Ravinder Singh and Shobhaa De speaking about why love is the most lasting human emotion.