Bhubaneswar: Come next month, the city will host a two-day literary meet where a host of writers from across the country and state will debate on a wide range of issues.

The list of participants at this year's meet are some of the country's finest storytellers and chroniclers including Ruskin Bond, Manoj Das, and Mark Tully. Kiran Nagarkar, Pratibha Satpathy, Prayaag Akbar, and Ravi Subramanian are some of the other stalwarts who will speak at the meet. Actress and filmmaker Nandita Das will be present to promote her upcoming biopic on legendary writer Saadat Hasan Manto.

Among the cultural presentations at this year's event will be the screening of a bouquet of critically acclaimed short films. A Million Sitas by the renowned dancer Anita Ratnam will be staged at the literary meet. One of the major attractions of the fest will be author William Dalrymple reading out passages from his book The Last Mughal. Vocalist Vidya Shah will accompany the author in the session.

"The meet goes beyond literature and embraces numerous other arts forms such as music, dance, theatre, and cinema. Each day at the fest will feature a diverse range of themes," said organising member Malavika Banerjee.

The festival will also feature some of the best of contemporary authors including Sahitya Akademi award winners Paramita Satpathy, Ramachandra Behera, Jatindra Nayak and Gourhari Das.

"Showcasing local literature has always been one of our driving forces, and the richness of Odisha's literary heritage makes our job easier," said Arun Misra, one of the organisers.

Tata Steel will host the event from January 11 to 13 at Hotel Trident here.