To enthuse children about reading, Literature Festivals are organized annually by Dikshant Literature and Art Foundation, in association with Adab Foundation.
This year, the Chandigarh Literature Festival was spread over 4 days(5th November-8th November), covering 30 sessions which brought together almost 40 writers, directors and critics from across the country representing various languages in a vibrant dialogue with an audience. The venue was Chandigarh Club, Sector 1, Chandigarh.
This year’s four-day literary gala included discussions, readings and musical performances. 20 individual books were dissected, analysed and read out. The unique format of the Festival provided a single platform to authors, critics, publishers, film-makers and readers to share thoughts, ideas, trends and literature. The themes and subjects of the books were diverse, with each book presenting many facets of the times we live in, and the times that were.
The festival saw prominent authors and poets Nayantara Sahgal, Kiran Nagarkar, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Sudeep Sen, Jeet Thayil. As per the format each literary critic served as an ambassador of the book he or she nominated. Critics Sagarika Ghose, Dileep Padgaonkar, Jai Arjun Singh, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Darryl D’Monte and many more presented their analysis of the books and helped audience gain insight on the literary merits (or demerits) of the books. Writing workshop by renowned author Indira Chandrasekhar gave young readers a glimpse at the mechanics of planning and writing a book.
During the inaugural of festival, renowned author Nayantara Sahgal was felicitated with life time achievement award for her contribution in literature. The Festival also provided a platform for writers from Chandigarh to share their stories and poetry with the audience in two sessions, and the evenings were reserved for Sufi music.
During the fest, path-breaking films ‘Killa’, ‘NH-10’, ‘Badlapur’ and ‘Masaan’ were screened to depict the intersection between cinema and the literary form. These film screenings was followed by discussions between critics and film-makers. These included big names like Navdeep Singh, director-NH-10, Neeraj Ghaywan director- Masaan, Avinash Arun, director –Killa, Sriram Raghvan director of Masaan.
The 4 day gala event was signed off by the chairman Mr Mitul Dikshit on 8-Nov-15, with a promise to celebrate literature next year, the way it should be.