3-day Hyderabad Literary Festival begins today

Hyderabad: After being held virtually for two years, the much-awaited Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF), is all set to begin on Friday at the Vidyaranya High School in Saifabad. The three-day event starting from January 27, will feature talks and sessions by several authors and extraordinary minds engaging in conversations about art, literature, politics, and others. Damodar Mauzo, widely acclaimed Konkani writer and Jnanpith awardee will be the chief guest while Stephan Grabherr, Deputy Ambassador at the German Embassy in India will be the guest of honour at the event.

As a precursor to the festival this year, two other events, namely, Kavya Dhaara (poetry), Anuvaad (translation), were held in November and December last year. For this year's festival, Germany will be the guest nation, and Konkani will be the language in focus. The festival will offer three days of evocative literary discourses, movie screenings, cultural performances, local cuisine, book stalls and more. It goes without saying there is something in store to savour for everyone.

The festival will host sessions on works of various authors such as P Sainath, Kalpana Kannabiran, Gita Ramaswamy, Manreet Sodhi Someshwar, K Srilata and others. The special attraction for festival every year is the film screenings by Moving Images Talkies. In this edition, several Indian and foreign language films lined up for screening include; Tambaku Chaakila Oob Aali, Molkarin in Marathi, Idi Katha Maatramena in Telugu, Sudesha in Hindi and Garhwali, The Peppercorns and the Secret of the Deep Sea, German, Nachom-ia Kumpasar in Konkani, The Peppercorns and the Secret of the Deep Sea in German. 'Other Kohinoors: The Rocks of Hyderabad', by Uma Magal showcasing the rocks of Hyderabad and how they have changed the urban landscape of the city in the last couple of decades is going to be a special attraction.

In the poetry segment, the festival will host Sarojini Naidu's 'The Bird of Time,' by Mythili Anoop, Jayadeva Goswami's Ashtapadis of Jayadeva by Soundarya Kaushik, Janabai's 'Cast Off All Shame', by Ulka Mayur, among others. Showcasing culture with a diverse mix of genres and artistes several events such as Jo Dooba So Paar: A Musical Dastangoii on the Life and Times of Amir Khusrau, VARIations: Fusion Music by Varijashree Venugopal, Ft Vivek Santhosh, Jeoraj, George, and Raghuram, Stand-Up Comedy by Manaal Patil & Ravi Gaikwad. Konkani being language in focus for this year's festival, a special cultural performance by Fugdi and Dhalo: Konkani folk dances by Dnyanjyoti Mahila Mandal will enthuse the visitors on the opening day.

Spanning over three days with workshops along with art installation works, storytelling sessions, book launches by several authors, stage talks, the HLF will be a packed affair for art and literature lovers in the city.