Literally New

Chandigarh,the gateway to northern India,symbolises unhindered flow of ideas,cultural trends and art forms evident in its official emblem,the Open Hand,which is “open to give and open to receive” and so it’s a perfect venue for a festival that aims to celebrate creativity across genres,believes Madhav Rao Kaushik,a poet and senior member of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi. “We want CFL to be a ground for both established and budding talent and it’s a humble effort to galvanise an all-round celebration of what art and life has to offer,” Kaushik adds.

The venue for the event — Government Art Museum,Sector 10,Chandigarh,reverberated with the beats of the dhol as the inaugural day saw Punjabi poet Surjit Patar being honoured. Over the next couple of days,CFL will see participation of Sanjay Chauhan,scriptwriter of the acclaimed film Paan Singh Tomar. Chauhan will talk about the trend of “Realism in Scriptwriting for Films”. Television journalist,Ravish Kumar will focus on micro fiction,while actor Piyush Mishra and Chandigarh’s theatre personality Neelam Man Singh will discuss music in theatre. Lalit Kumar,the originator of “Kavita Kosh”,the portal which is a treasure trove of poetry in different Indian languages,will interact with the audience.

There will be as many as 15 sessions on varied subjects,including discussions,talks,book readings,with a sizeable participation of writers,poets and artists from the region. One such session is titled “Hundred Years of Manto” which will take place with Punjabi writer Gulzar Singh Sandhu. Aditya Sudarshan and Altaf Tyrewala will converse about the significance of local urban stories. Palash Mehrotra will talk about his new book The Butterfly Generation. Readers can lend a ear to Aditya Sudarshan and Annie Zaidi,who will talk about the challenge of dramatic writing,as Pratyaksha Sinha and Geet Chaturvedi will be in conversation about their stories. Cultural evenings,traditional dinners and a live performance by Rekha Bhardwaj,CFL promises to be vibrant affair,one that strives to go beyond boundaries of language,gender and genres.