Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2021 rolls out in “New-Normal” mode

Kolkata: Apeejay Surrendra Group and Oxford Bookstores have announced the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2021 held from January 22 – 24.

Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival or AKLF is the first international literary festival in Kolkata

and Eastern India, is free for everyone, and continues to be since its inception in 2010 - the

only Literary Festival organized by a Bookstore. The AKLF is an engagement initiative with

the literary world at large and explores literature as part of our tangible and intangible heritage.

This year, keeping in mind the ongoing pandemic, the festival is being held under strict Covid Safety protocols at The Currency Building, Kolkata as a by registration only - hybrid event besides the Live- Digital format.With a stellar line-up of literary stalwarts, artists, and thinkers,

The three-day festival from 22nd to 24th January in its 12th edition will explore various dialogues focusing on new writings, translations, mythologies, children’s’ literature, relevant and topical issues besides publishing for the new India.

Priti Paul, Director Apeejay Surrendra Group, said, “2020 is behind us and has provided us

with a time for reflection with a clear 20/20 vision. Oxford Bookstore and the Apeejay Kolkata

Literary Festival have utilised the digital space proactively through the past year, as a realm

for carrying out projects and conversations, as well conceiving new ideas. We believe that an

important uniting thread at this time is the cause of books. The space occupied by Literature

and Books, whether on the ground or in the virtual world, will flourish. It is in this spirit that we present the 12th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival to our informed Kolkata

audiences.

Maina Bhagat, Director Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival and Apeejay Oxford Bookstores,

said: The 12th Edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival sets its sights on our fast-evolving world, and the changes that lie in store in the years ahead. Curated meticulously to meet the challenges of the Hybrid/Virtual format, with delegate participation from across

3 time zones, this acceleration to digital connectivity, has not stopped us from moving forward

with this key initiative. The Festival, packed with thought-provoking, entertaining and informative sessions, is a celebration of the written word, in the time of Covid.

AKLF 2021 recognises that books, ideas, discussions, freedom of expression, creativity, output, and respect for multiple points of view, that is offered through its platform, is more relevant today, than perhaps ever before.

To give out a first taster of AKLF2021, festival directors Maina Bhagat and Swagat Sengupta announced the list of speakers:Paro Anand, Alexandra Pringle, AndaleebWajid, Kunal Basu,

Namita Gokhale, Shashi Tharoor, Shobhaa De, Kishwar Desai, Viswanathan Anand , Boria Majumder, Anand Neelakantan, Kevin Missal, Ashok Banker, ParmeshShahani, RujutaDiwekar, Nisha Narayanan, Samit Basu, Sopan Deb, Anjum Katyal, SonuSood, Malashri Lal, Aakar Patel, Harsh Mander, KarunaE.Parikh , VirginieCorteval, Jérôme Petit, Thibaut d’Hubert, Selvam

Thorez , Deepa Mehta, Juhi Chaturvedi, Manoj Bajpai , Aseem Chhabra, Katherine Eban, TamalBandyopadhyay, Lisa Ray , Abhijit Bhaduri , Sandip Roy, Avik Chanda were some of the names announced.(UNI)