AKLF 2022 to be held in virtual mode
Kolkata: The 13th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) will be streamed live on digital media from January 21 to 23 due to the COVID-19 situation, a spokesperson of the organising committee said on Wednesday.
The AKLF 2022 will focus on fiction, non-fiction, gastronomy, mental and physical health during the lockdown triggered by pandemic, poetry, politics, current affairs, parenthood, translations, history, children's and adult literature among other themes, through 24 interactive sessions, the spokesperson said.
AKLF 2022 will be live-streamed on the official Facebook and YouTube handles of the Literary Festival as well as across the iconic Oxford Bookstores.
Some of the eminent speakers who will be part of the 13th edition of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival include author William Dalrymple, children's author Andy Griffiths; poet, novelist and journalist Jeet Thayil; filmmaker and writer Vandana Kohli.
The other speakers are author, speaker and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik; columnist and novelist, Shobhaa De; French diplomats Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens and Dr Christine Cornet; author, journalist and film critic, Anupama Chopra; journalist Seema Goswami; director and actor Aparna Sen, journalist Vir Sanghvi, Bollywood actors Kabir Bedi, Tusshar Kapoor, Jugal Hansraj; celebrity chefs,Sanjeev Kapoor and Vikas Khanna; veteran Indian theatre actress,Dolly Thakore, etc.
Maina Bhagat, Director Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival said, The festival is packed with thought-provoking, entertaining and informative sessions. Importantly, it commemorates and ushers in the centenary year of the iconic Heritage Oxford Bookstore an integral part of the life and times of this great city. It will be our pleasure to share this journey with you in the coming months .
Another important literary meet in the festival calendar, Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet earlier this week postponed the festival earlier slated to be held on the lawns of Victoria Memorial from January 25.
A spokesman for the literary festival said on Tuesday, that the on-ground festival will be held when the situation comes under control. However, some online sessions will be held on scheduled dates "to mark the city's annual date with literature and the arts.
The spokesman had said there will be online sessions, featuring 2021 Booker winner Damon Galgut, Indra Nooyi and Andre Aciman "to mark our dates in January".
But the festival authorities will be looking for an appropriate time, probably the last weekend of March depending on the situation then, to host the event on the ground, she said.
Apu Dey, one of the office-bearers of Publishers and Booksellers Guild said the organisers of the International Kolkata Book Fair, postponed to begin from February 28, were hopeful about going ahead with the literary meet held concurrently with the book fair for a couple of days in hybrid format (both on-venue and streaming simultaneously on YouTube.
