Mysuru Literature Fest-2024 to offer a feast for literary lovers on July 6 and 7

Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru will inaugurate the fest at 9:30 am on Saturday.

Packed with a world of poetry, fiction, drama, cinema, folk art cultural performances like Yakshagana, Dollu Kunitha and more, the eighth edition of Mysuru Literature Fest is here again to enthrall young and old, this weekend on July 6 and 7.

The fest is set to hold over 30 sessions including discussions on varied topics from AI to 'relationships in the online era' to sustainable lifestyle with Millets by over 90 luminaries from various fields.

The fest presented by Mysuru Literary Forum Charitable Trust and Mysuru Book Clubs-2015, will be held this coming Saturday and Sunday between 9.30am and 6.30pm at Hotel Southern Star in Mysuru.

On Saturday, member of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, will inaugurate the fest at 9.30 am. Actor and author Ramesh Aravind will join them as guest of honour and will address the gathering. Entrepreneur and author Aroon Raman will release the Newsletter; noted cinema director and environmentalist Suresh Heblikar will receive the first copy of it.

Chairperson and director of MLFCT and ML Fest-2024, Shubha Sanjay Urs, Secretary Thankam Panakal will join them. A short film, Sunflowers are the first ones to know, directed by Chidananda S Naik from Mysuru, which bagged first prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2024's La Cinef section, will be screened on the occasion.

On Saturday, at Jyothi Hall of the hotel, there will be a panel discussion on 'Thoughts, words and deeds-Zoroastrian goodness, magical migration' by Ashwin Sanghi and Aroon Raman.

Rajesh Ramachander and Dr Navin Patel will speak on 'AI Ecosystem'-to provide comprehensive understanding of AI and IoT and their relevance to both general and business communities.

Shanthanu Ray Chaudhuri, Maithili Rao and Balaji Vital will hold a discussion on 'The Swinging 70s: Stars, Style and Substance in Hindi Cinema'.

There will be a discussion on 'Refined living: tastes, sights of the world. Sauve and sensitive: cultural layers of experience' by Shoba Narayan, Zac O' Yeah, Monika Monalisa.

Vijay Balan and Shashikala Ramnath will speak on 'Behind enemy lines World of Spy Faction'.

Rugmini Prabhakar, Kavita Ratna, Sonya J Nair, Sonali Pattnaik, Rochelle Potkar will discuss on 'Poetry: Communication beyond abstract, flow of feelings as a fearless stream'.

Shinie Antony and Anuja Chandramouli will attend a session on 'Lore and Lure of Wicked Women: Lilith and Mohini'. Ravi Joshi, Nikhil J Alva and Krishna Srinivasan will speak on 'Nonfiction literature-Mirror to reality. Challenges of making nonfiction interesting. Ashvini Ranjan and Deepthi Navaratna will discuss on 'In true colours-A complication of Black and White photographs and Ashvin's life's favourite memories and stories'. Shonali Sabherwal and Anuja Chandramouli will participate in a panel discussion on 'Confusion to Correction'-a macro perspective.

On Saturday, at Gardenia, near the hotel's poolside, there will be session on 'Uragatharanga' on educating about snakes and saving them by Snake Shyam, Pavan Joshi, and Varsha Ananda.

At a panel discussion on Kaadu-Naadu-Kaapaadu, there will be a contemplation on Literature, Cinema and Environment by Suresh Heblikar, Shashidhara Haaladi, and Lakshmikantha Raje Urs. At a session on Siridhanyagala Saradaara, Khader Valli will speak on how to live a sustainable life.

Journalists Ravindra Bhat, Amshi Prasanna Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar will speak on Responsibilities of media. Suresh Heblikar, Roomi Harish and Krishna Manavalli will recollect memories of Sarod maestro Pandit Rajeev Taranath and offer a tribute to him.

Mandya Ramesh, founder of Natana team will present a play-Kannada Kavya Kanaja. The direction and music of the play will be by Dr Sripad Bhat; assistant direction and assistant music for the play will be Megha Sameera and Disha Ramesh.

On Sunday, at Jyothi Hall of the hotel, there will be staged readings by members of the Mysore English Theatre Forum including Nima Manjrekar, Thrilochan Sharma, Meenu Lalwani, Seemanthini B Sharma, Abhishek Veeraraghavan, Anuradha Nandakumar, A K Monnappa, C S Janardhan, Shashidhara Dongre.

Later, the book Power within-The leadership of legacy of Narendra Modi authored by Dr R Balasubramaniam will be released by Dr Vikram Sampath. First copy will be received by Sudhanva Dhananjaya. Deepthi Navaratna will moderate this session and there will be a panel discussion on 'braving to write about icons with millions of followers: challenges and trials'.

Vivek Shanbhag, Srinath Perur, Sita Bhaskar, and Jayashree Jagannatha will participate in a panel discussion on 'Between two knocks Sakina's Kiss'.

Dr Vikram Sampath and Prof G L Shekar will discuss about 'Ancient history and contemporary consequences'.

Harish Vasudevan, Dev Prasad, Kiron K Abraham and Mark David Abott will discuss on 'Spy Adventures-How to keep readers on edge'.

Gerry Martin will speak on 'Living with Snakes'.

There will be a panel discussion on 'The Alchemy of crossing over' by Suchita Sanjay, Preethi Nagaraj, Deepa Kannan, Wanita Ashok, Yasmin Sait, Miho Sakata Malha.

On Sunday, at Gardenia, near pool side of the hotel, there will be Eka Vyakthi Thaalamaddale-Ravanana Thangi Kavi which will be presented by Paarthi Subba, Divakara Hegde from Kerehonda, Prasanna Hegade from Magodu and Chinmay from Ambaaragodlu.

There will be a panel discussion on Rashtra Prashasthigala Surimale: Kaasaravalli Maayaloka , in which noted filmmaker and director Girish Kasaravalli, Deepa Ravishankar, Gopalakrishna Pai will participate.

There will be a session on Nagisuvavana Manada Maathu by Gangavathi Pranesh and Dr Madhuri Kulakarni. Usha Narasimhan, B R Nagarathna, N Sandhya Rani, Vasumathi Udupa will speak on Antharjaala Yugadalli Sambandhagala Suligalu.

There will also be panel discussion on relevance of poetries in a society of Online relationships by H S Shivaprakash, Dr B R Shruthi, Madhu Rani, Areef Raja, Rajendra Prasad and M S Shekar.

Jameel Saavanna, Prathibha Chayapathi, Ningaraju Chiththannanavar, Abhiruchi Ganesh, Meena Mysuru will participate in a panel discussion on Art of Publication-a link between writers and readers.

Kabbinaale Vasantha Bharadhwaj will speak on proficiency in language and creativity.

There will be a session on 'Sixty minutes with 'Agnaatha Alemaari' artists and Shillekyathara Manjunath, Halavarasollina Mallaiah, Syed Moula Dombara Narasima and Rani will present it along with Kannada story writer and Akashvani Assistant director Abdul Rasheed. There will be a panel discussion on 'Translation-a password for webportal of cultural relationships' by Pradhaan Gurudutt, Vikram Chaduranga and Dharmedra Kumar. Police officer Ravi Channannanavar will speak on 'Society friendly police'.

There will be a book expo and sale with Mysuru contemporary authors corner.