2021 Nobel Literature laureate, Booker winner to attend Kolkata Literary Meet

Kolkata, Jan 15 (PTI) The 2021 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Tanzanian-born British author Abdulrazak Gurnah, and Booker Prize-winning writer of the same year, South African Damon Galgut, will attend the 12th edition of Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, organisers said on Monday The literary festival, held on the sprawling lawn of the Victoria Memorial Hall in the heart of Kolkata, will be organised between January 23 and 27.

Gurnah, who got the Nobel for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents, will be present on the opening day when writer Sudha Murthy will also speak about multilingualism and literature.

At the five-day meet, the 2021 Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut will speak about his celebrated novels, while Irish author John Boyne will talk about his acclaimed work, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’.

British author Sebastian Faulks, known for his historical novels, will also be participating in the Meet, a spokesperson of Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet said.

Writer Amitav Ghosh will be back to discuss how the colonial exploitation of Eastern India shaped its history, economy and literature and will also be in conversation with Kazi Ashraf, author from Bangladesh, on the river Padma.

Former RBI Governor Raguram Rajan and economist Rohit Lamba will be sharing the stage to discuss their new books.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and former Governor of West Bengal, will be speaking on the life of the Mahatma in the years leading to Independence and will launch the new edition of Bapu’s book ‘I Am An Ordinary Man: India’s Struggle For Freedom.’ While critically acclaimed Indian actor Huma Qureshi will be speaking about her debut novel, director Tigmanshu Dhulia, actor Tillotama Shome and writer and film critic Shubhra Gupta will be remembering legendary actor Irrfan Khan.

Celebrated adman and filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar will be launching his memoir ‘Adman Madman’ in the meet.

There will be a session on renowned fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani’s book ‘Journey to India Modern’ and he will also be discussing India’s textile traditions and the challenges faced by artisans in today’s world along with crafts expert and social worker Laila Tyabji.

Sessions in Bengali will host local favourites including veteran author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay as well as poet Srijato, Chandril Bhattacharya, lyricisit Anindya Chatterjee, author-academic Chinmoy Guha, theatre stalwart Suman Mukhopadhyay, among others.

Sessions will be held to celebrate the centenary of Sukumar Roy’s ‘Abol Tabol’ (a collection of nonsense verses) and the bicentenary year of author Michael Madhusudhan Dutta. PTI