Mumbai booked

For a city that has been immortalised in literary gems such as Midnight’s Children,Such a Long Journey and Ravan and Eddie,it’s a shame that until now Mumbai didn’t have a literary festival to call its own. “Writers from Mumbai have given an outstanding contribution to literature and the city itself has been so widely written about,that I wondered why we shouldn’t have a literary festival here like the Jaipur Literary Festival,” says Anil Dharkar. The journalist-columnist then took it upon himself to organise a four-day festival,Literature Live,starting from November 12. “The main problem is getting the funds,”confesses Dharkar,“The ideas and concepts came easily once I’d decided that I wanted to organise a festival like this. Perhaps that’s why it’s taken so long for a Mumbai literary festival to take shape,because I know many people have thought about it.”

The first three days of Literature Live will be at the NCPA in Mumbai,while the final day’s events will be held at Lavasa,on the outskirts of the city. Prominent members of the local literati who’ll be taking part in the event include poet Keki Daruwala,journalist and novelist Manu Joseph,poet and novelist Eunice D’Souza,writer Amish Tripathi and blogger Anupam Mukerji,popularly known as Fake IPL Player.

There aren’t many names on the list who can be considered prominent internationally — no Salman Rushdie,Aravind Adiga or Vikram Chandra. Playwright Anuvab Pal,one of participants,points out,“It’s easier to get prominent Indian authors together somewhere abroad,than it is to get them in India. Once they achieve a certain degree of success,they end up splitting their time between India and some other country and can only make rare appearances at Indian festivals.”

Dharkar says there are also more prosaic concerns. “Internationally renowned authors have to be given at least a year’s notice because their calenders get full so quickly. And let’s not forget,this is Literature Live’s first time. Just like Jaipur’s fest has grown,we’re hoping this will too.”