Bhubaneswar: The Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet is back to enthral booklovers, with a range of authors and discussions.
The festival, in association with Sambad, will be held at Bhubaneswar Club from February 3 to 5.
The meet, to be inaugurated by Jnanpith Award winner Amitav Ghosh, will be open to all.
The festival will feature eminent dancer Mallika Sarabhai, who will be speaking on her book ‘In Free Fall’ on the inaugural day.
The surge of interest in Odia theatre and cinema will be discussed as part of the Odia strand of the festival.
Sofia Alam and Tanaya Patnaik will discuss the success of ‘Aahe Nila Shaila, while Anupam Patnaik and Gourahari Das will talk about Odia cinema’s resurgence focusing on ‘Pratikshya’, based on the latter’s ‘Bapa’.
Young poets Sujit Kumar Satapathy, Sreema Satapathy, Nikhilesh Mishra and Swagatika Mishra will read their poems on the second day of the festival.
Stalwarts Gopinath Mohanty and Jagadish Mohanty will be discussed in sessions during which two English translations will be released.
The way Odia literature is viewed in the state and outside will be discussed by award-winning authors Paramity Satpathy, Gayatribala Panda and Mona Lisa Jena.
Several new books in English like the biography of Kishore Kumar and a focus on Anglo-Indian community’s history and contribution by Barry O’Brien will be featured.
Former British Museum director Richard Blurton will present his book on the history of India through objects and Boston-based author Chitrita Banerji will speak about her book on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as well as on her celebrated books on the food history of India.
Sumanyu Satpathy’s book on nonsense verse will also be part of the programme.
Like every year, there will be excellent performances at the end of day on the weekend at the festival. Ustaad Shujaat Khan will be performing on February 4 and veteran actor Pankaj Kapur will be doing a solo act ‘Dopehri’ on February 5 at the Rail Auditorium. Passes will be available during the festival at the Club.
Pankaj Kapur will speak on Saturday alongside Supriya Pathak Kapur.
