Calcutta may have a decades-old book fair that packs in over 1.5 million visitors, but at the Jaipur Literature Festival, you can spot a dishy Nobel Laureate ambling around with his Booker-winning girlfriend! Well, maybe not Orhan Pamuk or Kiran Desai, but Calcutta will soon get up close with a clutch of authors, actors, musicians and more at not one but two literary events — one on the Book Fair grounds and the other anchored on the city’s most popular street.
From January 26 to 31, the city will hold its first ever Calcutta Literary Meet, bringing into town star authors like Imran Khan, Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Tahmima Anam, Moni Mohsin, Chetan Bhagat and Amish. They will be joined by a host of prominent city authors, including Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shankar, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Amit Chaudhuri. The meet is a part of the 36th International Calcutta Book Fair (January 25 to February 5).
“The idea is to give an interactive edge to the Calcutta Book Fair, which is already the biggest book-related event in India,” said Malavika Banerjee, one of the organisers.
Amit Chaudhuri feels a literary meet under the aegis of the book fair is a “logical extension”. “The Book Fair really celebrates the people’s love for books. But as an author, we’ve sometimes felt the fair is not really a hospitable place for book readings. I guess the Calcutta Literary Meet will provide that platform,” he said.
But first up is the third edition of the Apeejay Calcutta Literary Festival 2012 (January 11-15) that will celebrate a slew of literary events, including 150 years of Rabindranath Tagore and 100 years of Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
“This is what a literary festival should be — not a jamboree but an intimate, in-depth engagement with books and ideas. This is a gift to the culture-loving people of Calcutta,” said Anjum Katyal, an associate director of the Apeejay Calcutta Literary Festival.
Some known faces at the Apeejay do will be authors Kunal Basu, Deborah Baker and Mukul Kesavan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s daughter Salima Hashmi and actor Naseeruddin Shah.
The book battlelines have clearly been drawn and bookworms in the city are not complaining. “It’s tempting to go to Jaipur to meet our favourite writers, but it’s not possible for us students. That’s why I am extremely excited to learn about two literary meets being held here this month,” said Waled Aadnan of Presidency University.
But Sougata Mukherjee, publisher, Picador and Pan at Pan Macmillan, wondered if holding back-to-back literary events in the city was such a good idea. “I’m not sure if the dates work. And in between the two lit fests in Calcutta is the big one — Jaipur, between January 20 and 24.”
While many wonder how the Pink City stole Calcutta’s thunder as the book capital of the country, those in the know point out that Jaipur wasn’t built in a day. The planning for the next edition begins almost immediately as one year’s festival ends. “All credit goes to the organisers and also the marketing team. They have been successful in getting a great list of authors,” said Mukherjee.
This year, there is Fatima Bhutto, Kunal Basu, Hari Kunzru, Mark Tully...
“They also have the first-mover advantage,” pointed out Malavika Banerjee of the Calcutta Lit Meet. And, of course, there’s a writer of the stature of William Dalrymple involved, she added.
Jaipur co-director and author Namita Gokhale had earlier told Metro how a year of planning and six months of “obsessive, exhausting work” go into putting up the fest. Add to that a venue called the Diggi Palace and what do you have? The king of literary festivals.
This year, there’s a characteristically late challenger to the crown — Calcutta!
Mukherjee is happy that finally Calcutta has a literary meet worth its words. “The author line-up at the Calcutta Lit Meet is great and it makes a lot of sense to hold it as part of the Book Fair, which is such a huge event; even publishers look forward to it every year.”
Sahitya Akademi award-winning author Chaudhuri, however, hopes that Calcutta offers more to the book lover than just “literary tourism”. “Calcutta has a long history of printing and publishing, children’s writing and so much more. Other places that hold literary festivals — Jaipur or elsewhere — don’t have such a legacy. There the attractions are big authors, filmstars, politicians, sports stars…. Calcutta must offer much more, not just literary tourism.”
For now, bring out those well-worn copies of your favourite books and get ready for some serious autograph-hunting.
Calcutta Literary Meet
What: Calcutta Literary Meet as part of the 36th International Calcutta Book Fair
When: January 26 to 31
Where: Milan Mela Complex
Look out for: Vikram Seth on his much-awaited sequel to A Suitable Boy
Shashi Tharoor on writing, politics and, ahem, Twitter
Amit Chaudhuri on Calcutta, a ‘novel’ city
Imran Khan on ‘captaining’ a nation
Chetan Bhagat on the perks and pressures of writing bestsellers
Apeejay Literary Festival
What: Apeejay Calcutta Literary Festiva
When: January11-15
Where: Oxford Bookstore, Town Hall and other venues
Look out for: Naseeruddin Shah ) reciting Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry in Urdu and English Session by author Deborah Baker Session on writer-director-actor featuring the likes of Sunil Gangopadhyay, Samaresh Majumdar, Kunal Basu , Aparna Sen, Goutam Ghose, Raima Sen and Parambrata Chattopadhyay
