For the very first time a Lit Fest is happening in the Bangalore. Here’s a chance to meet your favourite writers like Shashi Deshpande, Sir Mark Tully, Shobha De, Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, and poets Gulzar and Javed Akhtar.

The Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) is on December 7, 8 and 9 at Jayamahal Palace Lawns, near Cantonment Railway Station. Besides putting the spot light of English writers, the fest promises to give due importance to regional literature as well.

The first day with begin with sessions by poet-lyricist Gulzar and novelist Chetan Bhagat. In the session, Craft of Poetry, Gulzar will be in conversation with Pavan Varma. Later, Chetan Bhagat will interact with readers in Crossfire. The evening will also see the launch of Beantown, a quarterly literary review journal of the BLF.

The second day, you could cherish the poetry of Gulzar and Javed Akhtar at Nazm aur Tarkash. What could get better than listening to the two shayars live. The same day author-journalist Tavleen Singh will release her latest book, Durbar. A session on children’s literature will follow.

On the third and final day, you could interact with Amish Tripathi, Mahesh Dattani and Ashish Sen. There will be sessions on fiction, new age writing, and writing on India. Shobha De will also launch her book, Sethji. .

The evenings will also resonate with classical music performances and folk arts. Organised by a group of young writers, the three day festival, promises to be every book lovers dream come true.

So, set your next weekend aside. Entry is free but participants have to register online at
www.bangaloreliteraturefestival.org.

Here’s a quick guide to the authors you can meet.

Dec 7, 4.30 pm onwards

UR Ananthamurthy

Chandrashekara Kambara                                                                            

Javed Akhtar

Nisar Ahmed

Shashi Deshpande

Gulzar

Pavan Varma

Chetan Bhagat

Dec 8, 9.30 am onwards

Shehan Kaunatilaka
Nisar Ahmed
Boria Majumdar                                                              
Chandrashekahara Kambara
Baragur Ramachandrappa
Anita Nair
Sudheendra Kulkarni
Harish Bijoor
Caroline Newbury
Gautam Padmanabhan
John D Balian
B Raman
Khaleelur Rehman
Mamta Sagar
Javed Akhtar
Bolwar Mahamad Kunhi
Rohini Nilekani
Nadia Budde
Pavan Varma

Dec 9, 9.30 am onwards

Kum Vee Bhadrappa
Jaishree Misra                                                          
Shashi Deshpande
Jayant Kaikini
Sir Mark Tully
Nandan Nilekani
Aroon Raman
Yaseen Premji
Shobhaa De
Sunil Sethi
Amish Tripathi
Roopa Pai
Mala Kumar.