One of the much-awaited lit - erary events in the city, the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, kicks off today. And before we all indulge ourselves in the four-day extravaganza we caught up with Priti Paul, director of Apeejay Surrendra Group, who gave t2 a low - down on the 14th edition of the event that will take place at Park Mansions and Oxford Bookstore. Excerpts.
For the last two years, the festival went into digital mode. What were the takeaways?
One of the takeaways would be that we realised it’s doable and we should keep going and that there’s value. Second, and that’s something that I always tell my team, every event doesn’t have to be for 200 or 300 people. There could be some events that you do online which are only for six people or twelve people, depending on the topic. So be realistic in terms of who your audience is and then reach out to them. And then if it’s a big writer and your audience is less in number then maybe it’s because they don’t see value in it. So be real. And the thing about the digital medium is that you can just switch to the next screen if it’s boring or unappealing.
And then the other takeaway is that at the end of it, people were really tired of going digital because everything was online — from business meetings and talks to lectures and even weddings. So at some point, the saturation was there. So I can’t believe how fast people have switched back from online to face-to-face. It’s like people have almost forgotten what it was like to be online.
And this edition will be just physical or hybrid?
I feel that online has also opened a new window for a lit fest like ours. And that is the reason why we have online sessions this year. So it has helped us transcend the geographical borders and we are having some very big names joining us online. And, of course, the festival will be streamed online for people who cannot make it to the grounds.
Okay, let’s talk about this year’s AKLF.
What makes this edition special, apart from the fact that we are celebrating and marking 100 years of Oxford Bookstore, is that this year’s itinerary covers a range of interests. So, from fiction and nonfiction to mental health and gender and street food to cinema, there’s everything. We have Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, then there’s Jerry Pinto, Jeet Thayil, Shashi Tharoor’s sister Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan, Deepti Naval, Shobhaa De, actor Divya Dutta and many others.
So the festival begins on January 12 in the afternoon, in the second half, where we have a lot of Calcutta’s biggest names addressing the audience, where they talk about their love for the bookstore. Then we have a beautiful session which talks about heritage followed by a celebratory dinner to welcome the guests. The next day, we have some eight to nine sessions. We also have the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, which is the only prize in India that recognises the art and creativity behind book covers. Also, this year we introduced the Art Book Prize and we have received an amazing response. The winner will be announced in February.
Moving beyond the festival, tell us about your reading habits.
I’ve read so much during the Covid break. I read a lot of business and reports because I’m building warehouses. It’s very boring but I have been reading that. Also, I’m reading a book about the Brighton Pavilion, which is a design book. It has pictures and drawings of how they constructed it using Indian and Chinese techniques for architecture. I’m an architect as well, so I like looking at art books and picture books.
And what about writing a book again? Your last book was ABC Desi.
As a bookstore owner, I always wanted to see what it felt to be on the other side, like what it feels to be an author, seller of books or publisher. So I wanted a 360° experience. Plus, I had three little kids and I told them I’m going to write a book and then I figured that the easiest book to write would be an ABC book. But it wasn’t easy at all. It took four years to put that out.I’ve been asked to write my autobiography, but I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.