AKLF 2018 is here! Welcome to Apeejay Literary Festival 2018!

The internationally renowned and eagerly awaited Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) welcomes you back to the St. Paul’s Cathedral lawns. A non-prot initiative free for everyone, AKLF is the only literary festival to have emerged from a bookstore - the iconic 98 year old Oxford Bookstore. The upcoming 9th edition of AKLF is poised to scale new heights, with a meticulously curated programme, bringing the world and the nation to Kolkata. Speakers from across the globe, from Australia, UK, Scotland, France, Germany, Haiti and more. Join eminent novelists, lmmakers, artists, poets, and social commentators to bring you a heady mix of literature, arts and current affairs. This year we collaborate with Bonjour , the prestigious French initiative across Literature and the Arts, as well as leading international festivals, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Henley Literary Festival, to present exciting programs; and reaffirm our link with the Jaipur Literature Festival through our exclusive Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize. We offer a bigger and better Oxford Junior Literary Festival (OJLF) for young readers; announce a major new award for emerging women writers; bring you an array of India’s top poets at Poetry Café; and introduce Mind Your Own Business, a B2B segment for students and young professionals. Come join us!

VENUES - St. Paul’s Cathedral 1A, Cathedral Road, Kolkata – 71 Goethe Institute, Max Mueller Bhavan 57 A Park Street, Park Mansions, Gate 4, Kolkata, West 700016 Club 120, Deshapran Sasmal Road, Saha Para, Tollygunge Golf Club, Tollygunge, Kolkata 700033 Harrington Street Arts Centre 8, Sarani, (opp The American Consulate, next to ICCR), Suite No. 5 & 25B 2nd Floor, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071 Indian Museum 27, Jawaharlal Nehru Rd, Colootola, New Market Area, Dharmatala, , Kolkata West Bengal 700016 Lalit Great Eastern 1,2,3 Old Court House Street, Dalhousie Square, Kolkata, West Bengal 700069 1 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 1 11TH JANUARY, 2018 (THURSDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Future Tent

10:00 - 10:30 OJLF is presented in association with Oxford Bookstores, The Teachers' Centre and The Creative Arts, Kolkata. OJLF Inauguration. With author Nandana and singer . Uma Kismat Paul opens the festival.

10:30 - 11:15 Big Little Book Award winner writer . A dramatised reading by The Creative Arts, followed by an interactive session with the author. Presented with Parag - An initiative of Tata Trusts.

11:30 - 12:00 Talky Tumble at Jumble Farm Nandana Sen presents her new book Talky Tumble of Jumble Farm: an interactive session.

12:10 - 12:40 Telling Tales: Dancer Anita Ratnam shows how to tell stories through dance.

12:50 - 13:20 True to Life: Anita Agnihotri, award-winning author, discusses how fiction grows out of everyday experience.

13:30 - 14:30 Bookwise: Literary Quiz by Xquizit. For Middle School.

16:30 - 17:30 Metajingle. A multidisciplinary theatrical event with performers from France and Kerala. Presented with Bonjour India

St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Oxford Pavilion

17:30 - 18:15 Cover to Cover. Announcing the Oxford Bookcover Prize shortlist. With jury members Alka Pande, Dayanita Singh. (Mod) Neeta Sreedharan. With a journey through ’s book cover designs by Debasis Mukhopadhyay. Presented with Jaipur Literature Festival and Oxford Bookstores.

18:15 - 18:30 AKLF Inauguration

18:30 - 19:30 Salaam Mira! Three decades in Cinema. Internationally renowned filmmaker Mira Nair in conversation with writer Chandrahas Choudhury.

20:00 - 21:30 Plug-in*

*Tickets available on bookmyshow/ at venue 2 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 2 12TH JANUARY, 2018 (FRIDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Future Tent

10:00 - 10:45 Doing My Bit: Thinking Green. An interactive session with theatre group Chupkatha led by veteran actor Dolly Basu and Areet Roychowdhury.

10:50 - 11:30 Time Travel: Namita Gokhale with her new book Lost In Time: Ghatotkacha And The Game Of lllusions.

11:40 - 12:20 Us and Them: From to today. With Catherine Maclean and Debanjan Chakrabarti. Presented with Edinburgh International Book Festival and An Lanntair, Scotland. Supported by British Council.

12:30 - 13:20 Akla Chalo Re: Excerpts from Three Women - A Musical Theatre. What can Tagore's women teach today's women? By Isheeta Ganguly with performers Avantika Averkar, Mahnaz Dhamania, Kohmal Khanna and Abhishek Chauhan. (Mod) Theatre artiste Ramanjit Kaur.

13:30 - 14:30 Joy Bangla! Exploring Sudeep Chakravarti's provocative new book The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community. Sudeep Chakravarti with socio- political pychologist Ashis Nandy and academic-cum-novelist Kalyan Ray. (Mod) Poet Sudeep Sen

14:40 -15:40 Out of the Woods? Last Girl First: The need of the hour. Poet and dancer Tishani Doshi performs her new poem. Followed by a discussion with activist Ruchira Gupta, student Juhi Khatoon. (Mod) Paromita Chakravarti

15:50 -16:50 Of Museums and Memory: Photographer Dayanita Singh unveils her critically acclaimed Museum Bhavan. Exploring the book as artefact and a museum of memory. With Prof. Swapan Chakravorty

17:00 -18:00 High Hitler? Norman Ohler discusses his NYT bestseller Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich with neuropsychiatrist Dr Chandrasekhar Mukherji and Raju Raman. Presented with Goethe Institut MMB

Tollygunge Club

19:00 - 20:00 India@70: Recap. Review. Where do we stand as a nation? Mira Nair, Mark Tully, Bittu Sahgal, Advaita Kala. (Mod) Salil Tripathi. Presented with The Tollygunge Club**.

**Passes available at Oxford Bookstore 3 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 2 12TH JANUARY, 2018 (FRIDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Oxford Pavilion

11:00 - 12:00 Travel and the Pleasures of Leisure. Award winning Australian writer Robert Dessaix in conversation with novelists Chandrahas Choudhury and Prajwal Parajuly. (Mod) Writer Sandip Roy. Chief Guest H.E. Ms. Harinder Sidhu, High Commissioner of Australia. Supported by Australian High Commission. Presented with Flying Squirrel Holidays.

12:10 - 13:10 Of Nawabs and Kababs: The Cuisine of A new look at the much-lauded Lukknavi cuisine by Sunita Kohli and Chand Sur. In conversation with Shahenshah Mirza, descendant of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, and leading food writer Pushpesh Pant.

13:20 - 14:20 Litfests and the Real World: Staying relevant With representation from UK, Scotland, Australia, Canada, Jaipur. Sue Ryan, Casi Dylan, Catherine Maclean, Namita Gokhale, Sanaz Fotouhi. (Mod) Sirish Rao. Supported by British Council.

14:30 - 15:30 Cities of the Future. Is there a new way of envisioning the city of tomor- row? With Anu Majumdar of Auroville, writer Naresh Fernandes, industrialist Harsh Neotia and architect Manit Rastogi. (Mod) G.M. Kapur, INTACH.

15:40 - 16:40 In the Shadow of the Himalayas. Namita Gokhale discusses her Himalayan trilogy with writer Prajwal Parajuly.

16:50 - 18:00 Crossing the Line: Women on the big screen who question, challenge, break the rules. , , Mira Nair, Ratna Pathak Shah, Nandana Sen. (Mod) Modhurima Sinha. Introduced by Prerana Langa. Presented with Yes Foundation

19:30 - 21:30 Plugin*

St. Paul's Cathedral, Portico

18:00 - 19:00 Poetry Café Inauguration. Mauj-e-Saraab: Minu Bakshi presents her new Urdu ghazals. With cultural activists Sundeep Bhutoria and Saira Shah Halim.

19:00 - 19:30 Poetry Café Readings: Arthur Cardozo, Anjana Basu, Nalini Paul.

*Tickets available on bookmyshow/ at venue 4 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 3 13TH JANUARY, 2018 (SATURDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Future Tent

10:00 - 10:40 Green Alert! Leading personalities Arindam Sil, Bittu Sahgal, Kant Sinha, Chief Wildlife Warden WB, and Joydip Kundu in an interactive session on nature. Presented with NGO SHER and Sanctuary Nature Foundation.

10:45 - 11:25 India@70: Leading theatre group The Creative Arts conducts an interactive session.

11:30 - 12:10 #Trending: What do young readers want? With global children's literature guru Daniel Hahn and publisher Karthika V. K. (Mod) Educationist Devi Kar. Presented with Henley Literary Festival, UK, and British Council

12:10 - 12:50 A Dog's Life: Leading children's writer Gillian Wright with her fun book about Mishti the Mirzapuri Labrador.

13:00 - 14:00 Women Writers Worldwide - The Challenges Ahead Award-winning Austra- lian writer Anna Funder, Sanaz Fotouhi of Asia-Pacific Writers and Translators, Bangladesh-US writer Abeer Hoque, Scottish poet Nalini Paul. (Mod) Tishani Doshi. With support from the Australian High Commission and British Council.

An Inner Quest: Expressions of spirituality. Kabir, Gurbani, Auroville: 14:10 - 15:10 explorations and discoveries. Vidya Rao on Kabir, Anu Majumdar on Auroville, while Minu Bakshi sings Gurbani. (Mod) Prof Kavita Panjabi.

Reversing the Gaze: How the experiences of the ex-colonies can inform 15:20 - 16:20 postcolonial thinking. Mahmood Mamdani, Hon. Harinder Sidhu, Mark Tully, Jawhar Sircar. (Mod) Sujata Sen

A Book is Born: The Art of Making a Book. Discussing Witness, Rehearsing 16:30 - 18:00 Freedom and more. Sudhanva Deshpande, Sanjay Kak, Itu Chaudhuri, Shernaz Dastur, Madhubanti Roy Chowdhury. (Mod) Arundhati Ghosh. Presented with India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)

18:10 - 19:00 Age of the Strongman Basharat Peer discusses his forthcoming book on the current global political situation with Salil Tripathi. St. Paul's Cathedral Portico

18:00 - 18:45 The French Connection: An Evening of Erotica. French-Haitian poets James Noel, Makenzy Orcel; and Sudeep Sen's poems in French and English transla- tion, introduced by Zulma Publisher Laure LeRoy. Presented with Bonjour India

18:50 - 19:30 Poetry Café Readings: Jerry Pinto, Avik Chanda, Mousumi Banerjee, Ananya Chatterjee 5 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 3 13TH JANUARY, 2018 (SATURDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Oxford Pavilion

11:00 - 12:00 The Big Brother Syndrome: On censorship and popular culture. Social commentators C.P. Surendran, Salil Tripathi, Sudeep Chakravarti, Ananya Vajpeyi. (Mod) Ruchira Gupta

12:10 - 13:10 Nude: Vishal Bhardwaj, renowned filmmaker, lyricist and music director, unveils his new poems. A bilingual edition. Vishal Bhardwaj in conversation with Pushpesh Pant.

13:20 - 14:20 Murder Most Foul: The thriller as an expose of society - on page and screen Basharat Peer, Advaita Kala, Jerry Pinto, Abir Mukherjee. (Mod) Sandip Roy

14:30 - 15:30 Moderately Famous? Popular actor Soha Ali Khan of the Pataudi khandan, in conversation with actor-writer Jayant Kripalani on her tongue-in-cheek debut title The Perils of being Moderately Famous.

15:40 - 16:40 Aesthetics with Ethics: Representing women's bodies. With Soha Ali Khan, Shobhaa De, Advaita Kala, Dev and Nil. (Mod) Alka Pande. Presented with Open Doors and Kutchina Foundation

16:50 - 17:50 Spectacular at Seventy: Shobhaa De's no-holds-barred memoir Seventy and to Hell with It! describes a life well lived in Independent India. Shobhaa De and Rakhi Sarkar. (Mod) Oindrilla Dutt. Presented with Rakshak Foundation

18:00 - 19:00 Women Writers: Shaping a New India. A discussion with Nayantara Sahgal, Urvashi Butalia, Jerry Pinto, Tishani Doshi, and Srijato. (Mod) Anjum Katyal. Introduced by Sundeep Bhutoria. To mark the announcement of the Prabha Khaitan Woman's Voice Award in association with Oxford Bookstore. Pre- sented with Prabha Khaitan Foundation and Oxford Bookstore

19:30 - 21:30 Plugin*

Harrington Street Arts Centre

19:30 - 20:30 Black and White City: Vintage Calcutta photographs by Bombay Photo Stores' Jayant Patel. Book release with Victor Banerjee, Kishore Bhimani, Soumitra Das, Lila Patel. (Mod) Nandita Palchoudhri. Presented with Harring- ton Street Arts Centre

*Tickets available on bookmyshow/ at venue 6 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 4 14TH JANUARY, 2018 (SUNDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Future Tent

11:00 - 12:00 The Future of the Book. A Publisher's Enclave. Karthika V.K. (Ama- zon/Westland), Laure Leroy (Zulma, France), Pramod Kapoor (Roli), Urvashi Butalia (Zubaan), Vidya Rao (Orient Blackswan). (Mod) NareshFernandes. With support from Bonjour India

12:10 - 13:10 New Passages: Contemporary Connections between Scotland and India. Novelist Abir Mukherjee and poet Nalini Paul of UK collaborate with Indian poet Sampurna Chattarji and writer Sandip Roy. (Mod) Casi Dylan and Catherine Maclean. Presented with Edinburgh International Book Festival and An Lanntair. Supported by British Council.

13:20 - 14:20 Darkness at noon: A dystopian tomorrow Nayantara Sahgal discusses her new novel When the Moon Shines by Day with novelist Kiran Nagarkar.

14:30 - 15:30 Clouds: Chandrahas Choudhury's new novel tells a story about Bombay, , clouds, love, and the drift of Indian history. Chandrahas Choudhury in conversation with Salil Tripathi.

15:40 - 16:40 A Cup of Brew and a Make-up Kit: Women writers from our Northeast talk about work and life. With Zubeni Lotha, Rini Barman, Haripriya Soibam and Prashansa Gurung. (Mod) Urvashi Butalia. Presented with Zubaan in collabora- tion with Sasakawa Peace Foundation

16:50 - 17:50 Sports and Governance: The Way Forward. With Justice Mudgal, Ashis Nandy, Boria Majumdar and Deep Dasgupta.

Goethe Institut- Max Mueller Bhavan Auditorium Park Mansions

11:30 - 13:30 City Premiere of award winning film The Hungry. dir. Bornila Chatterjee. With Jayant Kripalani, producer Tanaji Dasgupta.

13:45 - 14:45 Desire and Disquiet: Film scholar and filmmaker Madhuja Mukherjee on the voices of our early female film actors.

15:00 - 16:30 Remembering : screening of Nirmal Chander’s award-winning documentary shot by Ranjan Palit, followed by an interactive session with the cinematographer 7 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 4 14TH JANUARY, 2018 (SUNDAY) St. Paul's Cathedral Lawns, Oxford Pavilion

11:00 -12:00 Nature Nurture: The writer and the environment. Gillian Wright, Kiran Nagarkar, Prajwal Parajuly, Sampurna Chattarji. (Mod) Environmentalist Bittu Sahgal. Presented with Sanctuary Nature Foundation

12:10 - 13:10 King of the Good Times: Kingshuk Nag discusses his book Kingfizzer on the headline-grabbing Vijay Mallya with Kishore Bhimani. (Mod) C.P. Surendran.

13:20 - 14:20 Desh ki Dharti: Of Home and the Homeland. Writers speak of the dispos- sessed Indian. Prajwal Parajuly on northeast identities, Saaz Agarwal on the Sindhis, Vikas K Jha on McCluskieganj, Manoranjan Byapari on the Dalit experience. (Mod) Anjum Katyal

14.30-15.30 Jasoda: A heroine of our Times. Kiran Nagarkar's new novel investigates one woman's resistance to patriarchy. In conversation with Urvashi Butalia

15:40 - 16:40 Writing India: Tomorrow's Trends. A spectrum of voices and new directions with Novoneel Chakraborty, Rashmi Bansal, Karuna Ezara Parekh. (Mod) Aritra Sarkar

16:50 - 17:50 Gandhi Nama Pramod Kapoor, eminent publisher, discusses his newly published Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography with Pushpesh Pant.

19:30-21:30 Plugin*

St Paul's Cathedral Portico

18:00 - 18:40 Poetry Café Readings: C. P. Surendran, Sampurna Chattarji, Joie Bose, Debasish Lahiri.

18:40 - 19:30 IPPL Presents: Performing Poetry. Jayant Kripalani, Rahul Guha Roy and more. Introduced by Sanjukta Dasgupta. With IPPL and Oxford Bookstore

Indian Museum

18:30-19:30 (Closing Event) Indian Museum. Indian@70 - Towards Peace: Meghnad Desai, Ashis Nandy, Nayantara Sahgal, Kishwar Desai. (Mod) Sanjeev Chopra. With Usha Uthup and Jazz. Presented with Indian Museum, Open Doors

*Tickets available on bookmyshow/ at venue 8 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 4 14TH JANUARY, 2018 (SUNDAY) Goethe Institut- Max Mueller Bhavan Library Park Mansions

11:00 - 11:45 Magic in the Air: Anna Rossie, magical storyteller from Germany, performs a Japanese fairy tale. Co-presented by AKLF and Goethe Institut- Max Mueller Bhavan.

11:50 - 12:20 To Read or Not to Read: Award winning writer Jerry Pinto and international children's literature guru Daniel Hahn discuss the pros and cons of page vs screen, and the ways in which tomorrow's adults will learn to think. Presented with Henley Literary Festival. Supported by British Council.

12:30 - 13:15 Dying of Love. An interactive session with Novoneel Chakraborty, India's hottest new romantic thriller writer. (Mod) Joie Bose. Presented with Goethe Institut-Max Mueller Bhavan

13:30 - 14:30 Calcutta 2070: A documentary on climate change directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay rings alarm bells. With veteran actor , musician Kabir Suman, Creative Producer Mallika Jalan and subject expert Jayanta Basu. Screening followed by interactive session. Presented with Centre for Contemporary Communication, Consulate Generale of the Federal Republic of Germany, Kolkata. Initiative supported by Federal Foreign Office, Berlin. Co-presented with Goethe Institut-Max Mueller Bhavan

14:45 - 15:30 Magic in the Air: Anna Rossie, magical storyteller from Germany, performs a Japanese fairy tale. FESTIVAL SCHEDULE DAY 5 Mind Your Own Business ***15TH JANUARY, 2018 (MONDAY) Quorum 4, The Lalit Great Eastern

10:00 - 11:30 The Start-up Story: Investing and starting your own business: with Sagar Daryani (Founder, WoWMomo), Rashmi Bansal (Author, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish), Vikram Duggal (Start-up investor, Unitus seed fund)

11:45 - 13:15 The Di-‘Stress’ Call: Millennials and managing work stress: with Avik Chanda and Suman Ghose

13:30 - 15:00 What’s the Scoop?: Being a Journalist in India: with Naresh Fernandes and Sudeep Chakravarti

15:15 - 16:45 Check in: How to manage five-star hotels- with Dutta, General Manager (Lalit Great Eastern), Suborno Bose (Founder, IIHM& IAM, Indismart hotels) ***by pre-registration 9 DELEGATES ABEER Y HOQUE JAYANT KRIPALANI RAKHI SARKAR ABHISHEK CHAUHAN JAYANTA BASU RAMANJIT KAUR ABIR MUKHERJEE JERRY PINTO RANJAN PALIT ADVAITA KALA JOHN ANTHONY RASHMI BANSAL AKHIL J CHAND JOIE BOSE RATNA PATHAK SHAH ALKA PANDE JOYDIP KUNDU RAVI KANT SINHA AMAN NATH JUHI KHATOON RINI BARMAN ANANYA CHATTERJEE JUSTICE MUKUL MUDGAL ROBERT DESSAIX ANANYA VAJPEYI KABIR SUMAN RUCHIRA GUPTA ANITA AGNIHOTRI KALYAN RAY SAAZ AGGARWAL ANITA RATNAM KARTHIKA VK SAGAR DARYANI ANJANA BASU KARUNA EZARA PAREKH SAIRA SHAH HALIM ANNA FUNDER KAVITA PANJABI SALIL TRIPATHI ANNE ROSSIE KINGSHUK NAG SAMPURNA CHATTARJI ANU MAJUMDAR KIRAN NAGARKAR SANAZ FOTOUHI APARNA SEN KISHORE BHIMANI SANDIP ROY AREET ROYCHOWDHURY KISHWAR DESAI SANJAY KAK ARINDAM SIL KOHMAL KHANNA SANJEEV CHOPRA ARITRA SARKAR LAURE LEROY SANJUKTA DASGUPTA ARTHUR CARDOZO LILA PATEL SHAHENSHAH MIRZA ARUNDHATI GHOSH MADHUBANTI ROY CHOWDHURY SHERNAZ DASTUR ASHIS NANDY MADHUJA MUKHERJEE SHOBHAA DE AVANTIKA AKERKAR MAHMOOD MAMDANI SHUKTARA LAL AVIK CHANDA MAHNAZ DAMANIA SIRISH RAO BAISALI CHATTERJEE DUTT MAKENZY ORCEL SOHA ALI KHAN BASHARAT PEER MALLIKA JALAN SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE BITTU SAHGAL MANIT RASTOGI SOUMITRA DAS BORIA MAJUMDAR MANORANJAN BYAPARI SRIJATO BORNILA CHATTERJEE MARK TULLY SUBORNO BOSE C P SURENDRAN MEERA NAIR SUDEEP CHAKRAVARTI CASI DYLAN MEGHNAD DESAI SUDEEP SEN CATHERINE MACLEAN MINU BAKSHI SUDHANVA DESHPANDE CHAND SUR MIR SUE RYAN CHANDRAHAS CHOUDHURY MIRA NAIR SUJATA SEN CHANDRASEKHAR MUKHERJI MODHURIMA SINHA SUMAN GHOSE DANIEL HAHN MOUSUMI BANERJEE SUMAN MUKHOPADHYAY DAYANITA SINGH NABANEETA DEV SEN SUNDEEP BHUTORIA DEBANJAN CHAKRABARTI NALINI PAUL SUNITA KOHLI DEBASISH LAHIRI NAMITA GOKHALE SWAPAN CHAKRAVORTY DEEP DASGUPTA NANDANA SEN TANAJI DASGUPTA DEV N NIL NANDITA PALCHOUDHRI TISHANI DOSHI DEVI KAR NARESH FERNANDES URVASHI BUTALIA DOLLY BASU NAYANTARA SAHGAL USHA UTHUP FRANCOIS CHAT NORMAN OHLER VICTOR BANERJEE G. M. KAPUR NOVONEEL CHAKRABORTY VIDYA RAO GILLIAN WRIGHT OINDRILLA DUTT VIKAS K JHA HARINDER SIDHU PAROMITA CHAKRAVARTI VIKRAM DUGGAL HARIPRIYA SOIBAM PATRICIA NICHOL VISHAL BHARDWAJ HARSH NEOTIA PRAJWAL PARAJULY ZUBENI LOTHA ISHEETA GANGULY PRAMOD KAPOOR ITU CHAUDHURI PRASHANSA GURUNG RAGA JAZZ featuring Lars Moller JADE WILLIAMS PUSHPESH PANT (sax), Kala Ramnath JAIDEV DUTTA RAHUL CR (violin), Thor Madsen (guitar), JAMES NOËL RAHUL GUHA ROY Abhijit Banerjee (), Jonas JAWHAR SIRCAR RAJU RAMAN Johansen (drums). @TheAKLF AKLF.IN #AKLF18