Asia's largest 'Kerala Literature Festival' to be held in Kozhikode

Thiruvananthapuram: One of Asia’s largest literature festivals, the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), will be held at Kozhikode Beach from January 12 to 15, 2023.

From Nobel laureates to Booker Prize-winning writers, and senior politicians to historians, journalists, Film & Theatre Personalities, Performers & Artists, Diplomats, and Literary Luminaries, the sixth edition promises to host a spectacular list of delegates.

KLF is part of the tourist calendar of the region with participation from across India and from other parts of the world. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would inaugurate the four-day festival on January 12.

With an overwhelming footfall of 3 lakhs in the previous years, the sixth edition is all set to launch its own App. With the festival growing every year in huge numbers, a surge to 40,000 registrations is expected this year.

The App will allow the passing of information to a larger audience. Along with the basic features such as viewing schedules, and speakers list, the App will also allow the public to register for the lit fest, update regarding session changes, run contests, and news pertaining to the lit fest.

Around 400 speakers from 12 countries are expected to attend the event to be held in six venues spread across Kozhikode beach.

They include Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan, 2022 Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka, International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree, Noble Laureates Ada Yonath and Abhijit Banerjee, American Indologist Wendy Doniger, Ad Guru Piyush Pandey, writers/ authors Jeffrey Archer, Francesc Miralles, Shobhaa De, Tushar Gandhi, MT Vasudevan Nair, Jerry Pinto, Shashi Tharoor, T. Padmanabhan, K. Satchidanandan, M. Mukundan, K.R. Meera and Sudha Murthy, journalists P. Sainath and Barkha Dutt, historians Ramachandra Guha, William Darymple, and Manu S. Pillai, Rockstar Remo Fernandes, Queen of pop Usha Uthup, Film Personalities Emily Perkins and Prakash Raj, politician Kapil Sibal, Entrepreneur Kris Gopalakrishnan, Economist Sanjeev Sanyal among others.

The literature festival in the subcontinent brings writers, artists, actors, celebrities, thinkers, and activists closer to people of different backgrounds and interests.

The event is rich with the presence of invitees from Turkey, Spain, the USA, Britain, Israel, New Zealand, the USA, the Middle East, the Far East, and other parts of the world.

The sessions at KLF, aim to map literature through discussions on aspects of Science & Technology, Art, Cinema, Politics, Music, Environment, Literature, Pandemic & its Impacts, Business & Entrepreneurship, Health, Art & Leisure, Travel & Tourism, Gender, Economy, Culture Genomics, History & Politics and various facets that shape human consciousness.

Fireside chats at night, music concerts, and classical, theatre, and performing artists will make up the entertainment quotient at the festival.

An eclectic mix of literary & cultural icons and an even spread of celebrity quotient under the same roof at the beach of Kozhikode makes KLF 2023 a hugely anticipated event in the State and across the country. (UNI)