Burmese dissident writer to read at Kovalam Literary Festival
Leading Burmese dissident writer Ma Thida, former campaign assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi who was in jail for five years, Professor Christopher Pinney who wrote the definitive ‘Coming of Photography to India’ and noted writer Shobhaa De will be among the leading writers at the second Kovalam literary Festival which will be held at the Taj Green Cove Kovalam from October 7 to 9.

Amitav Ghosh, leading writer based in the US will be sending the keynote address to the festival on Burmese writing. Ghosh will be undergoing a hip-replacement surgery in the US and so cannot attend the festival.

Ma Thida was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the junta but was released in 1999 on humanitarian grounds. She is now doing the prestigious International Writers Project (IWP) at Brown University in the US. Her books include ‘Sunflower and ‘ In the shade of an Indian Almond tree’.

Leading Kokborok( tribal language of Tripura) poet Chandrakanta Murasingh, who is also a leading dissident voice from the north east will also be reading from his poetry. South African writer Rozeena Maart, who has written extensively on apartheid will be among the participants.

Writer, academic and commentator Mukul Kesavan will deliver the fourth K.C. John Memorial lecture on The Oddness of Indian nationalism, at the festival. Other writers participating includes Anuja Chauhan, Palash Mehrotra, Anita Jain and Professor Sanjay Srivastava who will lecture on the history of pornography in India.

The Kovalam Literary Festival, is organized by the Delhi-based event company Noctilucent.

For any information and all those who wish to be associated with the festival contact kovalamlitfest@gmail.com or call 9811802538.

Schedule for Second Kovalam Literary Festival:

Pretty pics from the inaugural Kovalam Literary Festival 2008

All pictures by Sarang Sena.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Kerala Tourism, the government body which promotes tourism in Kerala, has come on board as one of the new supporters for the Kovalam Literary Festival being held from October 7-9, 2009 at Taj Green Cove, Kovalam. Kerala Tourism runs the well-known God's Own Country campaign, which pitchforked Kerala to the top of the global tourism destinations.

Taj Green Cove, Kovalam will host the second Kovalam Literary Festival from October 7 to 10, 2009. Those who wish to participate or support the festival please contact us.

List of writers and publishers who came for the inaugural 2008 Festival: M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Gulzar, Shashi Tharoor, Tarun Tejpal, Patrick French, Richard Morais, Suresh Menon, William Dalrymple, Jaishree Mishra, Boria Majumdar, Mike Bryan, Namita Devidayal, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, Usha P.R, Akash Chopra, Kynpham Sing, Paul Zachariah, K.Satchidanandan.