New Delhi: The second edition of the Nainital Literature Festival (NLF) will be held from 13–15 March at Nainital’s Charkhet. The NLF, to be hosted at Kaansya Resort by Mountain Magic, brings together writers, thinkers, artistes, filmmakers, performers and the local community for three days.
Mentored by academic and food critic Prof. Pushpesh Pant, the festival is ticket-free. Apart from books, literature and intellectual discussions, the festival will also feature curated food and craft stalls.
The organisers said that by bringing together international authors, Indian literary figures, content creators, influencers and young artistes, the festival marries global perspectives with local narratives, and established voices with emerging talent.
With free entry for all, the festival makes the finest conversations and ideas from across India and the world accessible to all, thus democratising knowledge, the organisers said.
Covering a wide range of themes, the event reflects the diversity of contemporary intellectual and artistic inquiry. Sessions will engage with history, gender and social issues, mythology, poetry, cinema, photography, travel writing and artificial intelligence, said the organisers.
Alongside discussions on canonical traditions, the festival will also foreground regional and folk narratives, including a conversation on the legendary Kumaoni tale ‘Rajula–Malushahi’.
This edition of NLF features prominent figures from the domains of literature, cinema, culture and history. Filmmakers Imtiaz Ali, Nagesh Kukunoor and Vibhu Puri will engage in conversations about cinema and storytelling.
Scholars and public intellectuals, including mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, thinker Gurcharan Das, Subhashini Ali, Shahid Siddiqui and Suhel Seth, will discuss themes ranging from mythology and philosophy to politics and society.
Literary voices such as Amitabha Bagchi, Jerry Pinto, Pratyaksha and Ashok Pandey will take part in readings and discussions on contemporary writing. Apart from the experienced scholars, the festival will also feature young content creators such as Saba aka thewordmuse, who will shed light on the beauty of the Urdu language and literature, the organisers said.
The festival also brings international perspectives to the hills of Nainital. Historian and author John Zubrzycki, travelling from Australia, will participate in sessions on history and cultural narratives, while writer Richa S. Mukherjee, from Taiwan, will contribute to discussions on women, satire and contemporary writing.
The festival will have workshops on travel writing and Kalari Yoga. The speakers will also visit schools after the event.
The festival is presented by Lekhni Foundation, founded and directed by Amitabh Singh Baghel, who also directed the Jindal Literature Festival, founded and directed the Koshala Literature Festival.
The vision of the festival is further realised by the guidance of Aparna Kanda and Anshu Khanna as festival advisors, and the efforts of Swati Digvijay Bora as festival coordinator and Payaswini Singh as Trustee of Lekhni Foundation. The organisers are
also supported by a young and dedicated team whose members have been working tirelessly in
coordination to bring the festival together.
ThePrint is the official media partner for Nainital Literature Fest.