In Life, Actually, Rupleena Bose, Anisha Lalvani, and Shabnam Minwalla shared insights on the experiences of young women in modern India, moderated by Jashodhara Chakravarti. Ashis Nandy, in The Psyche of a People, discussed The Gujaratis and socio-political psychology in conversation with Salil Tripathi. M.K. Raina revisited the Kashmir of his childhood in The Way Back Home, alongside Vikram Iyengar, through his poignant memoir, Before I Forget.
Romantic intrigue took center stage in Of Hookups and Breakups, with actress and social media personality, Shenaz Treasury and Nitish Bhushan sharing tales of love and loss, moderated by Ramona Sen. Celebrated historian and author Ramachandra Guha presented his latest work, Speaking with Nature, in Environmentalism Before Climate Change.
Mythology captivated the audience in Of Deities, Demons, Queens, and Kings, with Anand Neelakantan, Akshat Gupta, Anuja Chandramouli, and Priyanka S. Kaintura, moderated by Lopamudra Maitra. Javed Akhtar’s poetic brilliance was celebrated in Jadu! Shair Extraordinaire, featuring Sumantra Ghosal’s translations and moderated by Supriya Newar. Historian Sugata Bose discussed Asia After Europe in Asia Rising, sharing thoughts on the evolving idea of ‘Asianness’ with Jayanta Sengupta.
The three day festival concluded with the exemplary Table Talk, where Sunita Kohli launched The India Cookbook – From the Tables of My Friends. Usha Uthup and Shaun Kenworthy joined moderator Oindrilla Dutt to explore the warmth of food and community.
The Oxford Junior Literary Festival continued to delight young readers at the Oxford Bookstore, Park Street with storytelling and interactive sessions. Hemangini Dutt Majumder mesmerized children with engaging stories, while Shabnam Minwalla led a session on adventure and mystery for middle schoolers, giving rise to creativity and wonder.
The Poetry Café celebrated love, identity, and the beauty of language in a soulful evening curated by Ramanjit Kaur and moderated by Ramanjit Kaur and S.V. Raman. The event featured an extraordinary lineup: Mrityunjay Kumar Singh (Hindi), Iryna Vikyrchak (Ukrainian), Baisali Chatterjee Dutt (English), Ananya Chatterjee (Bengali), Sunil Bhandari (English), Supriya Newar (Hindi/Urdu), Anurag Maitreyee (Bengali), Bhupinder Singh Bashar (Punjabi), Arthur Cardozo (English), Abhijit Palchoudhuri (Bengali), and Sangeeta Bapuli (Sindhi). The evening included enchanting performances by Swastika Mukherjee and TCA students, Chinmoy Guha’s reflections on 20th-century French poetry, and an open mic hosted by Anjana Basu and Baisali Chatterjee Dutt, where poetry enthusiasts shared their original works.
The three-day festival enjoys the support of esteemed partners – Kenilworth Hotel, as the Hospitality Partner; Cha Bar for Refreshments; Calcutta Business School, ILead and Teacher’s Centre as the Institutional Partners; and Glenburn Penthouse and Alliance Française du Bengale as Festival Collaborators along with The Park as the Festival Partner and Flurys as Gifting Partner. Additionally, 91.9 Friends FM serves as the Radio Partner. The event will feature contributions from numerous prominent publishing houses, fostering a collaborative and lively literary ambiance. To name a few- Aleph Book Company, Bloomsbury, Hachette, HarperCollins, Harvard University Press, Jadavpur University Press, Juggernaut, Niyogi Books, Penguin Random House, Readomania, Routledge, Rupa Publications, Speaking Tiger, Vitasta Publishing, Westland Books, and many others.