The mantra of Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet this year is ‘Literature First’ and expect literary giants to enamour your mind and soul with sessions that are thoughtfully curated. There will also be stellar performances in music and theatre to enrich souls further. Here is a look at all the firsts in this year’s festival. Mark your calendar!
Andrew Sean Greer: The Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of Arthur Less continues in Less is Lost, and the author debuts at the festival to speak about it with Sandip Roy.
Bibhutibhushan: Though he has been discussed indirectly through sessions on Ray’s Apu Trilogy and Taranath Tantrik, the great storyteller will for the first time be the focus of a session — Bhibuti Bhushaner Sansar, a talk delivered by Chandril Bhattacharya.
Chitrita: Food writer, midnight’s child, and conversationalist nonpareil, Chitrita Banerji will come to the festival with her fabled recipes and a lifetime of stories.
Daisy Rockwell: It is her mastery of dhwani that ensured that Ret Samadhi, written by Geetanjali Shree, transformed so magnificently into the International Booker Prize-winning Tomb of Sand. The glittering session will showcase her mastery of Hindi/Urdu at the festival.
Energise Your Mind: Gaur Gopal Das’ new book is the vehicle of his debut at the festival. The smiling and charismatic monk will light up Sunday morning with his wisdom and life lessons.
Fifteen Judgments: Saurabh Kirpal’s in-depth look at a set of judgments across the last seven decades that changed the financial landscape of India.
Geetanjali Shree: The award-winning author will speak about her Booker Prize winning novel Ret Samadhi to give us a look into the creative journey that culminated in her iconic novel.
Hamlet: A young luminous Riddhi Sen shows us why Bengali theatre has a bright and beautiful future as he brings alive the Prince of Denmark at GD Birla Sabhaghar on January 23.
Ileana Citaristi: Italian-Indian Oddisi and Chhau dancer will be speaking for the first time at the festival, about her book on the martial arts of India. Italy continues to be a steadfast and valued ally of the festival.
John McLaughlin and his iconic Shakti comprising Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, S. Selvaganesh, and Ganesh Rajagopalan will light up the festival on January 24 evening. They will also speak on their journey over five decades on the same afternoon.
Kalra: Sonam Kalra’s Sufi Gospel Project underscores the syncretic idea of India that the best literature of this region celebrates, with music and verses. From Kabir to Abide With Me, is a performance to watch out for on January 25 at the East Gate Kalam Lawns.
Lodha: Amit Lodha, the policeman who penned his incredible story of chasing down a cop in Bihar Diaries, will be speaking about his adventures while bringing dangerous criminals to book.
Mauzo: The Jnanpith Award winner Damodar Mauzo will speak about his body of work. The doyen of Konkani literature, he will speak about his stories that hold a mirror to the changing landscape of Goa.
Nemat Khana: The Urdu novel that won author Khaled Jawed the 2022 JCB Prize for The Paradise of Food will be in focus as the author and his translator Baran Farooqi discuss life after the award and recognition.
Oscar Guardiola-Rivera: The Colombian philosopher will speak about the future of democracy across the globe. He will also speak about the enduring legacy of the writings of his uncle Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Paresh Maity: The eminent artist will be launching Infinite Light, a new book on his works. The festival has several sessions on art as well as art history.
Queersapien: The Kolkata Literary Meet has always highlighted the triumphs and challenges that face the LGBTQ community. Saurabh Kirpal and Sumita will debut in a session on Queersapien by Sharif Rangnekar alongside Andrew Sean Greer and festival veteran Sandip Roy.
Rupam Islam: The iconic singer brings his sci-fi author avatar to the festival. This debut takes place on Republic Day afternoon at 2.20pm.
Shikhandi: A powerful one-woman act that cuts through the question of gender. Directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay and featuring Sudipta Majumdar, it is certainly not to be missed.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida: Shehan Karunatilaka’s mind-bending, ghost-infested masterpiece won the Booker last year. The author will discuss why he took a decade to write this powerful tale.
Unseen City: The migrants’ march compelled us to confront the lives of those who come to our cities in search of livelihood. Ankhi Mukherjee’s stunning exploration of their inner lives in her new book promises to be one of the most thought-provoking sessions of the festival.
Vikas Khanna: The chef brings his novel Imaginary Rain to the festival. However, food is never too far from the discussion when he is there, and a session on India’s diverse cuisines is part of the bill of fare.
Wengrow: Wengrow and Graeber are the two Davids who wrote The Dawn of Everything which makes us question accepted wisdom on our past. Wengrow will be speaking on his book and later will join Amitav Ghosh in a much-awaited session.
XLVII: Also written as 47! It is on Sanjeev Sanyal’s book Revolutionaries: The Other Story of How India Won Its Freedom. Evocations of 1947 are all over the schedule as they should be, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of our Independence.
Yeh Shaam Mastani: A session where Kishore Kumar debuts at the festival through a gobsmacking biography by Aniruddha Bhattacharya and Parthiv Dhar. Pritish Nandy, who famously interviewed the genius who emboldened Indian men to sing, will be present.
Zan, Zendagi Azadi: The chant of the women’s movement in Iran and the terrible cost that men and women have to bear will be discussed by Anuradha Kapoor, Sharda Ugra and Ghazala Wahab at the festival.