Let's Celebrate Central India's Largest Literary Fest • 21st, 22nd, 23rd December 2019!
Indore Lit Fest 2019 • Speakers
Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra". He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature, and Padma Bhushan in 2014.
Prayag Shukla
Poet, art critic and fiction writer Prayag Shukla is the author of nine poetry books, five collections of short stories, three novels, a book on art appreciation, Dekhna, and a book on Satyajit Roy, Ek Filmkaar kee Oonchai. Prayag Shukla regularly writes for children and has written many poems. He has translated Bangla poets Jibananda Das and Shankh Ghosh, as well as Rabindranath Thakur’s Geetanjali into Hindi. Hindi representative at Iowa Writing Program in 1984, he has also toured France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. His awards include Sahitya Akademi’s translation prize, Dilli Akademi’s Kruti Award and Dwijdev Samman.
Gagan Gill
Gagan Gill had an extremely successful career as a journalist but chose to sacrifice the journalist for the poet in her. Gagan has published 4 collections of poetry, one volume of prose: her 1st collection "Ek Din Lautegi Larki" focuses on the gamut of female experience; poems of "Andhere Me Buddha" are variations on the theme of sorrow in human existence; her 3rd volume "Yah Akanksha Samay Nahin" is dedicated to enigma of desire; the songs of her 4th collection "Thapak Thapak Dil Thapak Thapak" rely on sound & images rather than narratives to crystallize suffering as the one constant in the impermanence of human existence.
Dr. Vikram Sampath
An author, historian, political analyst Dr. Vikram Sampath is the best-selling author of three acclaimed books: “Splendours of Royal Mysore”, "My Name Is Gauhar Jaan" and "Voice of the Veena”. He has also established the Archive of Indian Music (AIM) as a private Trust that seeks to digitize and preserve old gramophone recordings of India. Vikram was awarded the Sahitya Akademi's first Yuva Puraskar in English literature in 2012 and the ARSC International Award in New York in 2011 for his book on Gauhar Jaan. His forthcoming project is a biography “Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past”.
Nadira Babbar
Nadira Babbar is an Indian theatre actress, director and an actress in Hindi cinema well-known for her films Bride & Prejudice, Jai Ho and Samundar. She is the recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2001. Nadira founded a Mumbai-based theatre group called Ekjute, a known name in Hindi theatre in 1981. She graduated from National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi in 1971. She was a Gold Medallist at NSD and went to Germany on a scholarship, and later got a chance to work with renowned directors like Grotovisky and Peter Brooks.
Maithili Thakur
Maithili Thakur is an Indian folk singer, sings in Maithili and Bhojpuri including chhath songs and kajris. Maithili's music journey started in 2011, when she appeared in a reality show titled Little Champs, telecast in Zee TV. Though she had appeared in many local programmes before, it was through this reality show that she gained recognition. Four years later, she contested in another reality show, titled Indian Idol Junior, telecast in Sony TV. But she became a national sensation through the reality show Rising Star., in which she ended up as runner-up.
Pankaj Rag
Pankaj Rag is an Indian poet and IAS officer of 1990 batch. He has served as the Commissioner of Directorate of archeology, archives and museums, in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Director-General of National Archives of India, and Director of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Maharashtra. Rag graduated in history from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and completed his Master of Philosophy in modern Indian history from Delhi University. Rag is a recipient of Kedar Samman and Mira Smriti award.
Ashish Bagrecha
Ashish Bagrecha is a young entrepreneur, marketer and the author of the “Loved, Lost & Lived”, a novel inspired from real life incident and “Dear Stranger, I Know How You Feel”. Ashish Bagrecha uses his Instagram account efficiently for reaching out to an audience who is a sucker for healing poems. Often cited as the marketing manager of Savi Sharma, one of the most popular Indian authors on social media, Ashish Bagrecha has contributed a lot in making “Everyone Has a Story” and “This is Not Your Story” bestselling books.
Mayur Didolkar
Mayur Didolkar is an entrepreneur cum author with an undying passion for literature, politics and marathons. He is a fan of popular fiction and published famous novels “Kumbhpur Rising”, "The Dark Road" and “Tears for Strangers” along with a short story collection “Nagin”. He has also written for many popular web portals including Swarajya and The Quint.
Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal
The Pune-based poet and storyteller, Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal is the author of “Circus Folk & Village Freaks”. She holds an MA from Kings College, London. Aparna is a recipient of the 14th Beullah Rose Poetry Prize by Smartish Pace. She was shortlisted for the Third Coast Fiction Prize, 2018. She is featured on the Masthead of the Songs of Eretz Poetry Review as a Frequent Contributor. Her page poetry is featured in reputed international literary journals. Her poetry will be anthologized alongside the work of renowned poets such as Gulzar and Piyush Mishra in 2019.
Nilotpal Mrinal
Nilotpal Mrinal is a well known writer and a poet who has already established himself among the readers and literary intellectuals with his first novel 'Dark Horse'. Nilotpal is also active in political and social activities for the last several years after completing his education from St. Xavier's College, Ranchi. Along with playing a special role in student movements, Mrinal has also performed on TV platform in the field of folk music.
Ranjana Mishra
A graduate in music, Ranjana Mishra shares an unbreakable relationship with music and poetry. She is associated with Akashvani, Pune. Her poems and stories have been published in Kathadesh, Samalochan, Sadaneera, Gambheer Samachar, Samkaleen Janmat, Bijuka. Beside these, Ranjana's essays and articles have been published in IndiaMag and Bindi Bottom. She has also translated poetry works of Charles Bukowski, Kamala Das and Tara Patel. Ranjana has been awarded with “Pratilipi Kavita Samman – Critics’ Choice 2017”.
Belly Kaanungo
An iconic food blogger & Indian lifestyle youtube vlogger, Belly Kaanungo is the debut author of a non-fiction self-help book, Emotivity. An Instagram influencer, Belly has also been a Radio Jockey and a show producer of her own show in the recent past. Belly has gained massive popularity in the city in the recent years and is known as an icon in creative writing, public communication and in food blogging fields.
Manish Vaidya
Manish Vaidhya has emerged as a very popular writer in recent years and he is well-known for his most recent book "Phugati Ka Joota". He has also published a collections of short stories "Tukde Tukde Dhoop" in 2013. Manish's stories and articles have been published in several newspaper and magazines. He was awarded with several awards including "Yashwant Argare Award", "Pratilipi Award" and recevied felicitations from Premchand Srijan Peeth for best story.
Tarek Fatah
Canadian writer, journalist, broadcaster and political advocate Tarek Fatah is the founder of the liberal Muslim organization, Muslim Canadian Congress, a group of secular Muslim Canadians committed to a separation of religion and state, fighting the spread of Islamism, anti-Semitism and Hindu hatred inside the Muslim community. His first book, "Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State", was a finalist for the prestigious Donner Prize while the book "The Jew is Not My Enemy" won the Helen and Stan Vine Award. He is a regular contributor and guest host on CFRB Newstalk 1010, and weekly columnist for the Toronto Sun.
Leeladhar Jagudi
Leeladhar Jagudi is an Indian teacher, journalist and poet of Hindi literature. Jagudi has written several poems, published independently and as anthologies and his poems have been translated into English. Sahitya Akademi chose his Anubhav Ke Aakash Mein Chand for their annual award in 1997. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Hindi literature. He is also a recipient of Raghuvir Sahay Samman, Shatadal Award of Bharat Bhasha Parishad, Namit Puraskar and Aakashvani Award. He lives in Joshiyara in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.
Gautam Chikermane
Gautam Chikermane is Vice President at Observer Research Foundation and a journalist for two decades. He also tracks the international economic affairs, particularly the G20 nations, and is a Director at CARE India. Earlier, he was New Media Director at Reliance Industries Ltd. He has also served three terms as Director of Financial Planning Standards Board India and one as its Vice Chairman. Gautam has authored four books: 70 Policies that Built India: 1947 to 2017, Independence to $2.5 Trillion; Tunnel of Varanavat; The Disrupter: Arvind Kejriwal and the Audacious Rise of the Aam Aadmi; Five Decades of Decay.
Vijay Kumar
Art enthusiast and a blogger, Vijay Kumar is the co-founder of India Pride Project and the author of the book “The Idol Thief” which chronicles many cases of theft of idols & iconography from Indian Temples in the last few centuries. He and his team have been pioneering the return of priceless artifacts, revered idols and cultural memorabilia back to India. He is the creator of “Poetry in Stone”, Vijay’s brain child, a small bilingual blogsite on sculpture and art appreciation, targeting early audiences to introduce them to understanding the nuances of our temple art.
Gyan Chaturvedi
Gyan Chaturvedi is an Indian writer and satirist in Hindi language, known for his satirical novels, Baramasi and Narak Yathra. He was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri. Chaturvedi has been writing regular columns in India Today and Naya Gyanodaya and frequent columns in Rajasthan Patrika. He is a recipient of several awards such as Sharad Joshi Samman of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Delhi Academy Award and Indu Sharma Literary Award.
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a transgender rights activist, dancer and actress. She was the first transgender person to represent Asia-Pacific at a UN task meeting in 2008 and represented the region again at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne. Most recently, she was one of several petitioners in the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment recognising the ‘third gender’ and is a member of the core committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for Transgender Rights and Upliftment. Her autobiography is titled Me Hijra, Me Laxmi.
Savi Sharma
An inspirational writer, author and a storyteller, Savi Sharma is one of the most popular Indian authors on social media. She self-published her inspirational novel “Everyone has a Story” which was later acquired by Westland Publications. More than 250,000 copies of her debut novel have been sold since its release in June 2016, and it is India’s fastest selling debut novel. Besides, Savi is also COO at Life & People where her role is to write, curate and publish interesting articles related to Positivity, Law of Attraction, Spirituality, Meditation, Healing, Success Stories, etc. which has helped in her personal and professional development.
Tarun Bhatnagar
Short story writer, poet, novelist and zila panchayat CEO at present Tarun Bhatnagar Morena is the writer of three short story books "Gulmehndi Ki Jhadiyan",
"Bhogol Ke darwazw Par"
and "Jungle Mae Darpan"
and a novel "Laut-tee Nahi Jo Hansi".
Sanjeev Paliwal
A veteran in TV Journalism with over 28 years of experience, currently working in Aaj Tak as Executive Editor. Here, he is responsible for Aaj Tak’s International channels covering more than 60 countries around the world. In his previous assignment at IBN7, besides leading a team of news professionals to innovate new ideas to present news, he had conceptualized talk shows, presented news Live on Prime Time and has anchored the channels award shows. Before switching over to television, he worked in the print medium for five years including major Hindi dailies.
Manoj Kumar Pandey
पिछले कुछ वर्षों में कहानी की दुनिया में युवा पीढ़ी ने सार्थक हलचल पैदा की है। इस पीढ़ी की सर्वाधिक महत्त्वपूर्ण प्रतिभाओं में एक है मनोज कुमार पाण्डेय। मनोज ने अनेक कहानियों का नाट्य रूपान्तरण किया, कुछ कविताएँ भी लिखी हैं। ‘शहतूत’ मनोज की कहानियों का पहला संग्रह है, इसके बावजूद यह किताब अपने लिए किसी मुरौव्वत की माँग नहीं करती; क्योंकि इसकी कहानियाँ सशक्त रचनात्मकता की सम्पदा से सम्पन्न हैं। विभिन्न प्रतिष्ठित पत्र-पत्रिकाओं में कहानियाँ प्रमुखता से प्रकाशित।
Lalit Kumar
Lalit Kumar has been a blogger in Hindi and English. He writes in a variety of topics, including technology and disability. Lalit published his memoir, titled "Vitamin Zindagi", in May 2019. In the book he has very openly recalled his life with polio in India's capital New Delhi. Vitamin Zindagi has received a lot of commendation and very positive reviews. It is one of the most beautiful written account of how persons with disabilities struggle in Indian society and how, many of them, achieve success despite all odds.
Dr. Sharad Singh
Dr. Sharad Singh is a well-known Hindi Novelist and Columnist. Her more than 50 books on women discourse, history, tribal life, environment, science, philosophy, biography has been published. Her remarkable novels are 'Pichhale Panne Ki Auraten', 'Pachakaudi' and 'Kasbai Simon'. She has also written extensively for newspapers for a couple of decades.
Rashmi Bhardwaj
Rashmi Bharadwaj is a strong media and communication professional with a M.Phil focused in English Literature (British and Commonwealth). She is the author of Ek Atirikt 'A', which was also selected for Bharatiya Jnanpith Navlekhan Award for the year 2016. Rashmi is also running a literary website "Meraki Patrika". Her poems, stories and articles have been published in several newspapers and magazines. Rashmi's second poetry book will be published in January 2020 and will be launched at International Book Fair from Setu Prakashan. Her literary works have been also selected in "Shatdal".