Kerala Litrature Festival

Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) has grown due to increasing number of willing collaborators, the generous cooperation of writers and thinkers from India and abroad and an audience eager to meet the litterateurs and public intellectuals they admire. No wonder KLF is now celebrated as the second largest literary event in Asia, a real people’s festival, the footfall last year touching one hundred and fifty thousand. Set along the shore of the Arabian sea by the beaches of Calicut, KLF offers something for just about every age and interest, bringing readers and writers together for inspiration, entertainment and discussion. Every year, the festival presents an array of the best artists, actors, celebrities, writers, thinkers and activists closer to people by engaging in meaningful discussions on literature, art, cinema, culture, dance, music, environment, science and technology.

The Festival is organised by DC Kizhakemuri Foundation Kottayam and Co-promoted by DC Books, one of the largest publishers in India.

KLF 2019

This, year, KLF will be held at Kozhikode from January 10- 13, 2019. This year’s literature in focus is Marathi. The festival has a parallel, theme-based film festival curated by Bina Paul where films by women across the world will be screened and discussed besides cultural programs every evening by Indian and foreign artists and musicians. She will be amply guided by the Festival Director K Satchidanandan and chief facilitator Ravi Deecee. A book fair will also accompany the literary festival.

Guest nation…

Kerala Literature Festival 2019 has Wales as the Guest Nation and also has speakers from more than 7 countries/ ethnic origin, including USA, UK, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Spain and Sri Lanka.

Speakers…

Speakers will include literature heavyweights like Arundhati Roy, Shashi Tharoor, Richard Stallman, Ravinder Singh, Chetan Bhagat, MT Vasudevan Nair, Anita Nair, Gaur Gopal Das, Swamy Agnivesh, Benyamin, Rakesh Sharma, Devdutt Pattanaik, Manu S Pillai,etc. KLF is the only lit fest that Arundhati Roy participates in.

Performing artists…

Fireside chats at night with a plethora of performing artists like rock bands, musicians, dancers, concerts, ghazal nights make altogether, the Kerala Lit Fest an indelible affair in the literary scene.

Other facts

KLF has around 150 volunteers, including students, teachers, professors, doctors and community leaders. Several institutions remain closed during the festival so that both students and faculty get to attend and be involved in festival Almost 65% of the footfall accounts to youth.

Previous speakers…

The past three editions witnessed some iconic stars at KLF. Names like Sadhguru, Ashok Vajpai, Taslima Nasreen, Noam Chomski, Romila Thapar, Sagarika Ghosh, Rajdeep Sardesai, Rishi Kapoor, Prakash Raj, MT Vasudevan Nair, Kanhaiya Kumar, Asish Nandy, Jayaram Ramesh, Teesta setalvad, Shobha De, et al.

KLF crowd funder

“We are proud to remain as for how we started. Nonaligned. We take no sides, we mask none, and we very well don’t take no for an answer in our relentless pursuit to provide a platform for expressions for the very best from every field. KLF will not give its two cents to the monotonous tunes of hypocrisy and vows to stand tall even if we fall in our attempt at providing a platform for meaningful and honest expressions and dialogue,” tells Ravi DeeCee, Chief Coordinator, KLF.

“But the recent flood and post-slump economy have made the situation looking rather bleak. We want the festival to remain global, free and accessible for everyone – and not restrict it only to those who could afford to pay for it. We want to give people the opportunity to contribute financially, in ways that work for them, to help us remain independent and non-aligned.

We hope that today many more of you will consider offering us one-off or ongoing support, with a contribution or by gifting a delegate pass or by stepping into the Chief’s Circle. To be a part of this movement, visit the official KLF Website www.keralaliteraturefestival. com. KLF remains open to the public, non-exclusive and open platform for discussions and idea exchanges,” concludes Ravi.