he Week Hay Festival began in Kerala amid fanfare and glitterati of writers and authors from across the world. The three-day programme of events will include authors and speakers from India and across the world, that would include personalities like Vikram Seth, Shashi Tharoor, Anita Nair, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Simon Schama, Bob Geldof and many others.
After wowing literary audiences around the globe, one of the world’s largest literary festivals- the Hay Festival- is in India for the first time. The 23-year-old coveted festival, which is based in Wales in Britain and has spread its wings in several countries, has come to India for the first time and is generating interest in literary circles after cold response initially.
The credit for bringing the Hay festival to India definitely goes to Thiruvananthapuram’s colourful MP Shashi Tharoor.
Speaking on the opening day of the festival, Peter Florence, the founding director of the mother brand in the UK, seemed to invoke writer-activist Arundhati Roy with his short speech on what he wants the festival to do. He said: ‘We want writers who are unorthodox. That’s what they are for. We should hear them and not silence them.’
Speaking over Thiruvananthapuram as the venue of the ferstival, Charlie Walker, director, programmes, India and Sri Lanka from the British Council, said: ‘Kerala was the obvious choice. The idea behind the location was to make sure it had a strong Indian audience along with a strong international presence. It also has to do with the fact that Kerala has the highest literacy rate, which makes it an apt choice for an international literary festival.’
On the opening day of the Hay Festival, Tharoor hit out at Arundhati Roy saying the Booker prize winner-activist has ‘gone too far to the left’ and ‘unfortunately chooses to write about those who carry with guns’.
Shashi may be the force behind bring the Hay festival to India, but one could bet that it was her wife, Sunanda, who was centre of attraction on the opening day with shutterbugs chasing her. She was even mobbed by the crowd and later was seen giving autographs.
Name of Source: mynews.in