Kolkata Literary Meet starts today

January 23, 2024 | 5 min read

The Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet (KaLaM), in association with Victoria Memorial Hall, is back with its twelfth edition.

Like every year, several famous authors, litterateurs and entertainers are going to adorn the gardens of Victoria. The literary extravaganza will continue till January 27.

From Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Abdulrazak Gurnah to author and motivational speaker Sudha Murty, from award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction revolving around the issues of colonialism and climate change, Amitav Ghosh to British novelist, journalist and broadcaster Sebastian Faulks, a slew of personalities will be present during the various sessions of the meet.

Take a look at the schedule:

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2024

INAUGURATION by Governor of Bengal, CV Ananda Bose; Guest of Honour: Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah
A LIFE IN WRITING: Abdulrazak Gurnah in conversation with Nilanjana S Roy
THE GIFT OF MULTILINGUALISM: Sudha Murty in conversation with Malavika Banerjee
BINOYER BRAHMADARSHAN: Anupam Roy in conversation with Srijato
LOOK AHEAD IN ANGER: Siddhartha Deb and Devika Rege in conversation with Payal Mohanka
A(NINDYA) THEKE CHANDRABINDOO: Anindya Chatterjee, Sajjad Hussain and Rajarshi Dhara in conversation with Agnijit Sen
POETRY MEDLEY: Renu Roy, Laksmisree Banerjee and Ajanta Paul in conversation with Ashoke Vishwanathan
GALGUTNAMA: Damon Galgut in conversation with Malavika Banerjee
NAYIKA SANGBAD: Senjuti Roy Mukherjee and Poulami Chatterjee Bose in conversation with Aparajita Dasgupta
THE SEVENTH SON: Sebastian Faulks in conversation with Anuradha Roy
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS: John Boyne in conversation with Jashodhara Chakraborti
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS: Mihaela Gligor and Chinmoy Guha in conversation with Sagnik Bhattacharya
EVERYTHING THE LIGHT TOUCHES: Janice Pariat in conversation with Diya Kohli
ISMAT APA KE NAAM: Featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah and Heeba Shah

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024

THE MUSE CALLED STRIFE: Ronya Othmann in conversation with SV Raman
ZEBA THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERHERO: Huma Qureshi in conversation with Janet Gasper Chowdhury
IRRFAN: Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tillotama Shome and Shubhra Gupta in conversation with Shahana Chatterjee
DECOLONISING THE ENGLISH LITERARY CURRICULUM: Sukanta Chaudhuri and Ankhi Mukherjee n conversation with Madhavi Menon
THE WAR DIARY OF ASHA-SAN: Asha Sahay Choudhry remembers her time as part of the INA
BEING FEARLESS: Jayanta Roy, Sucharita Basu and Rudra Chatterjee in conversation with Anindya Paulchaudhuri
ASIA AFTER EUROPE: Sugata Bose in conversation with Sarvani Gooptu
BEYOND THREE GENERATIONS: MSA Kumar and Firoz Meeran in conversation with Janet Gasper Chowdhury
SHANTA GOKHALE – A LIFE IN WRITING: Shanta Gokhale in conversation with Jerry Pinto
THE RESOURCE CURSE: Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Sukanta Chaudhuri
FIREBIRD: JCB Prize winner Perumal Murugan in conversation with Arunava Sinha and SV Raman
STATE OF FOCUS: KERALA – LITERATURE’S OWN COUNTRY: Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose talks about the literary heritage of Kerala. Reading by Roopsha Dasguupta and musical presentations.
STATE OF FOCUS: KERALA – KERALA CHRONICLES I: KR Meera in conversation with Sampad Patnaik
ADMAN MADMAN: Prahlad Kakar in conversation with Manoj Mohanka
KERALA CHRONICLES II: S Hareesh in conversation with Debnita Chakravarti
REVISITING A CLASSIC, SCULPTING A SEQUEL: Sebastian Faulks and John Boyne in conversation with Pratiti Ganatra
RADIO ISHQ GOLPO PAATH: Somak Ghosh reads Parashuram’s Swayambara
SWEETS AND BITTERS: Satish Arora in conversation with Poorna Banerjee
BHOOT BANGLA – GHOST STORIES OF BENGAL: Jashodhara Chakraborti and Prasun Roy in conversation with Sanjna Ray
THE PROMISE: Premiere of Tigmanshu Dhulia’s short film, The Promise, followed by a conversation with Priyanka Roy
WHAT I HAVE NOT SEEN BEFORE: An Indo-Polish dance collaboration by Sudarshan Chakravorty (Sapphire) and Jacek Luminski (Luminski Dance Project)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024

MY MEDITERRANEAN TABLE: Natasha Celmi in conversation with Poorna Banerjee
REPUBLIC OF HOPE I – I KICK AND I FLY: Ruchira Gupta in conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha
IS LORD GANESHA MARRIED? Anand Neelakantan in conversation with Satyarth Nayak
MICHAEL MADHUSUDHANER DWISHATABARSHO: Biswajit Ray in conversation with Somshankar Ray
EDWARD LEAR AND THE KANCHENJUNGA: Anindyo Roy in conversation with Deepika Jaidka
DUNIYA KI BHASHA, BHASHA KI DUNIYA: Daisy Rockwell, Alka Saraogi and Aditi Maheshwari in conversation with Ved Raman Pandey
ABOL TABOLER SHATABDI: Sukanta Chaudhuri and Sarnath Banerjee in conversation with Pinaki De
THE HYMNS OF TUKARAM: Shanta Gokhale and Jerry Pinto in conversation with Arunava Sinha
BLACK RIVER: Nilanjana S Roy in conversation with Vikram Iyengar
THE DAY I BECAME A RUNNER: Sohini Chattopadhyay and Supriya Chaudhuri in conversation with Devdan Mitra
JOURNEY TO INDIA MODERN: Tarun Tahiliani in conversation with Sandip Roy
THE LAWS OF DESIRE: Madhavi Menon in conversation with Monideepa Banerjie
THE GREATEST MALAYALAM STORIES EVER TOLD: AJ Thomas, KR Meera and Anand Neelakantan in conversation with Malavika Banerjee
THE PINK LINE: Mark Gevisser, Niladri R Chatterjee and Sandip Roy in conversation with Sampad Patnaik
ANOTHER SORT OF FREEDOM: Gurcharan Das in conversation with Milee Ashwarya
MEPHISTO: A play by Suman Mukhopadhyay, featuring Anirban Bhattacharya, Riddhi Sen and others

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2024

INDIAN BY DESIGN: Laila Tyabji and Tarun Tahiliani in conversation with Malavika Banerjee
HUNGRY BENGAL: Janam Mukherjee on the Bengal Famine and the way it shaped history
ARCTIC SUMMER AND FORSTER’S INDIA: Damon Galgut in conversation with Ankhi Mukherjee
WRITER’S POSTCARDS, WRITER’S DISPATCHES: Dipika Mukherjee and Diya Kohli in conversation with Seema Mohanchandran
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE: Jacek Luminski, Suman Mukhopadhyay and Bickram Ghosh in conversation with Vikram Iyengar
REPUBLIC OF HOPE II – PACHEESHEY PAA: Riddhi Sen, Surangana Bandyopadhyay and Ishaan Ghosh in conversation with Agnijit Sen
REPUBLIC OF HOPE III – AGAINST ALL ODDS: Kamal Shah and Minu Budhia in conversation with Shruti Mohta
MANY AFRICAS, MANY STORIES: Abdulrazak Gurnah, Damon Galgut and Mark Gevisser in conversation with Sandip Roy
THE COLONIAL CONSTITUTION: Arghya Sengupta in conversation with Monideepa Banerjie
BREAKING THE MOULD: Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba in conversation with Rudra Chatterjee
FOUND IN TRANSLATION: Daisy Rockwell and Daniel Hahn in conversation with Arunava Sinha
THE FIRST FIRANGS: Jonathan Gil Harris and Jayanta Sengupta in conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha
THE GREAT PADMA: Amitav Ghosh and Kazi Khaleed Ashraf in conversation with Supriya Chaudhuri
CARIBBEAN INK: Denise deCaires Narain in conversation with Debnita Chakravarti
EKA ANUPAM: Performance by Anupam Roy

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2024

MOULDING THE FUTURE: Raghuram Rajan in conversation with Milee Ashwarya
THE UNMARRIAGABLE MAN: Ashok Ferrey in conversation with Sampad Patnaik
MEERA MUKHERJEE CENTENARY: Tapati Guha Thakurta, Adip Dutta and Sujaan Mukherjee in conversation with Sumona Chakravarty
GOYNAR BAKSHO/THE AUNT WHO WOULDN’T DIE: Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Arunava Sinha in conversation with Sanchari Mookherjee
LIKE A PRAYER: Nilanjana Sengupta and Soma Bose in conversation with Shahana Chatterjee
WORK 3.0: Sucharita Basu and Atrayee Sanyal in conversation with Deval Tibrewalla
REPUBLIC OF HOPE IV – YARNS OF RESILIENCE: Laila Tyabji and Bappaditya Biswas in conversation with Nandita Palchoudhuri
THE GREAT FLAP OF 1942: Gopalkrishna Gandhi introduces Mukund Padmanabhan’s – the author in conversation with Krishnan Srinivasan
I AM AN ORDINARY MAN: Gopalkrishna Gandhi speaks about the Mahatma in the years leading to independence
THE MORAL CONTAGION: Sarnath Banerjee in conversation with Pinaki De
THE EVEREST OBSESSION: Deborah Baker and Stephen Alter in conversation with Sujaan Mukherjee
DREAM MACHINE: Appupen in conversation with Pinaki De
PROTHOM MUDRON, BHALOBASHA/A HOUSE OF RAIN AND SNOW: Srijato and Maharghya Chakraborty in conversation with Somak Ghosh
THE WISDOM OF THE PURANAS: Satyarth Nayak and Shalini Modi in conversation with Sidharth Pansari
MOTI NANDY’R DHULOKHELA: Chandril Bhattacharya on the non-sports gems of Moti Nandy
FIRE ON THE GANGES: Radhika Iyengar in conversation with Manoj Mohanka
KALAM FINALE: Classical vocals (khayal and thumri) by Shubha Mudgal