New Delhi:
The fifth edition of Delhi Literature Festival is set to kick off from February 10. The speakers include renowned writers like Ashok Vajpeyi, William Dalrymple and Taslima Nasreen among others.
The three-day-festival will open with a session by Swapna Liddle, author of ‘Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi’ where she will delve deeper into the different facets of the old walled city.
The first day will also see the launch of “Dream Nation: Dear Kalam Sir”, a biography of former President A P J Abdul Kalam written by Raghav Chandra, besides a panel discussion on ‘Demonitization: Intent, Implementation and Impact’ that will see author Vinay Bharat-Ram in conversation with economist Surjit S Bhalla.
A session on relevance of public libraries will attempt to revive interest in such institutions across India.
Conducted by Indian Public Library movement, an initiative backed by NASSCOM Foundation, it will have activist-author Kamla Bhasin, human rights campaigner Shabnam Hashmi, theatre academic Tripurari Sharma on the panel.
“A discussion focused on Air Pollution in the City, titled ‘Choked Capital’ by a panel of experts from Swachh Bharat and the Urban Development Ministry will also be held,” organisers said.
The festival will also see Scottish historian and writer William Dalrymple talking about his latest book “Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond” which he has co-authored with Anita Anand.
A Dastangoi performance, the ancient art of Urdu storytelling by Ankit Chaddha, one of the last twelve Dastangos in the country, is also on the line up.
A Hindi poetry session by Ashok Chakradhar and ‘Branding for Make in India’ by Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant will also be part of the event.
Other speakers at the festival include Tarek Fatah, Ravinder Singh and Ira Trivedi.
The event is set to conclude on Feb 12.
