Festival Schedule 2019

Opening ceremony for the tenth edition of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest.

Words don’t come easily to the best of writers. But these two authors, one a master of fiction, the other of non-fiction, are known not just for their body of work but for their prodigious output. What is their secret? Does the Muse love them more than others?

Scripting a story.

Join Andrew Bovell as he teaches the art of writing a play

Savarkar’s idea of India.

Tim Flannery reveals more about this humble marine algae.

Is Aadhar as benign as it sounds?

Swiss poet Jurczok 1001 performs a virtuoso mix of spoken word, vocals and live looping done with soul, quirky humour and infectious charm.

A workshop with Siobhán Parkinson connecting writers with young readers.

The presentation ceremony to the Tata Literature Live! 2019 Poet Laureate K Satchidanandan, followed by a reading of his poems by the poet and a conversation between him and Supriya Nair about his immense body of work.

Dave McKeans graphic novel about WW1 comes to life in a multimedia musical explosion. 

For: Baijayant Panda, Hindol Sengupta Against: Ashutosh, Shashi Tharoor Chair: Sidharth Bhatia It’s the easiest scenario to imagine: the State has learnt of a terrorist attack. It knows where to look but it doesn’t know who specifically to look at. The easiest answer is to monitor everyone within the neighbourhood/ community for clues of their […]

Creating mysterious and interesting characters. 

Based on her book ‘How Now Brown Cloud’ , Bijal Vachcharajani gets children to write about climate change.

Making Sanitation Everyone’s Business. Parameswaran Iyer in conversation with Sunetra Chaudhury

Learn the art of self – editing.

Accompanied by his talking cello Destino, can Tommy rescue the Queen of Atlantis by defeating the terrifying Kraken of the Deep?

The first double amputee to  climb the summit of  Mount Everest, Mark Inglis  talks about his journey to the top of the world.

The books that made me a writer.

The water shortage facing us.

Elizabeth Flock shows you how to write and/or evaluate investigative reports.

K Satchidanandan in conversation with Perumal Murugan and Kannan Sundaram.

The city and me.

You had to be of an age to read Midnight’s Children in 1981 to understand its genius and explosive impact at that time, both in India and overseas. It won the Booker that year and got the Booker of Bookers in 2008. Close to 40 years after its release, a distinguished panel will discuss the […]

How to make profits ethically.

Experiment with the art of writing the spoken word with Emanuela Sabbatini

Connecting with the consumer. 

The global rise of populism.

Alexander McCall Smith in conversation with Shobhaa De.

A straight talk by Naman Ahuja.

An 8-step guide on how to censor women’s writing set in a boxing ring.

How to create cartoon characters.

How do you write a cool poem  about  dreary dusters, tiffin terrors and frothy friends?  Lubaina Bandukwala shows you how.

Why cultural appropriation isn’t cool.

Is fiction a better way to tell history?

Netaji’s complicated legacy.

Accompanied by his talking cello Destino, can Tommy rescue the Queen of Atlantis by defeating the terrifying Kraken of the Deep?

Join Yvonne Owuor on an imaginative workshop on place writing through and with your senses

Writing a commercially viable novel.

Come on a thousand year journey from fact to fiction and back again, in this telling of Shakespeare’s classic tale, this time for children. 8+

Discover Mumbai with a story-telling session based on the author’s book, ‘Totally Mumbai’.

Is  humanism is more relevant today than God ? A C Grayling expounds the notion.

The relationship between coffee and literature. 

In conversation with Rupangi Sharma, mountaineer Mark Inglis talks about in the agony and the ecstasy of climbing Mt Everest as a double amputee. He also takes questions from the audience.

The medical nude as an object lesson: deconstructing the libidinal as found in the nude of medical literature and imagery. Monologue by Ambarish Satwik. Disturbing images: Strictly for adults over 18

Is it already too late to save the Earth?

Music And Misadventures. Shubha Mudgal in conversation with Shobhaa De.

The corporate takeover of the newsroom.

Why is the novel more valued than the short story?

by Pankaj Kapur and Vikram Oza.

Milee Ashwarya shares ideas on the business of publishing.

Learn how to develop characters in fiction with Andrey Kurkov.

Anthony Horowitz and Yvonne Owuor chat about their work, and how they juggle writing across film, tv, and literature.  

Understanding the agrarian crisis in India.

Bringing books to children.

Leadership lessons from cricket.

Four poets share a selection of poems, followed by an informal conversation with the audience.

The forecast for the Indian economy.

Panelists : Ritu Dewan, Shinjini Kumar, Sucheta Dalal

Chair : Mini Menon

Launch of ‘The Silence and The Storm’ followed by a discussion about women in the conflict zone.

The challenge of keeping up with sexual identities.

The sense of a place.

Eshkol Nevo shows you how the personal can be an outsider.

Monica Ali talks about how, what and when to begin a story.

Dave McKeans graphic novel about WW1 comes to life in a multimedia musical explosion. 

Is the bard an Indian playwright? 

The relationship between math and art. 

A breathtaking circus show of acrobatic skills that fuses movement and live music to reinterprets Dostoevsky’s Notes On The Underground.

This talk presents the journey of women creators and characters in comics around the world along with research from an ongoing project by Arun Prasad and Aarthi Parthasarathy on the history of comics in India. This session would specifically look at the representation of women and gender in sequential art – beginning with the emergence […]

How similar is 2019 to 1975?

A straight talk by Hari Krishnan.

Comedian, author and cultural icon Shappi Khorsandi brings an acclaimed hour of sharp-tongued gags and whatever else is in her easily distracted mind.

Writing in two languages.

Swiss poet Jurczok 1001 performs a virtuoso mix of spoken word, vocals and live looping done with soul, quirky humour and infectious charm.

The rise and fall of the the East India Company. 

Why I watch the game.

A straight talk by Piers Bursill-Hall.

The graphic novel as a satirist.

Come on a thousand year journey from fact to fiction and back again, in this telling of Shakespeare’s classic tale, this time for children. 8+

Join Ian Jack in this workshop on finding your voice as a columnist.

Learn the art of listening to our minds with Shinie Antony.

Human rights are a western idea.

Death of political objectivity.

The outsider as insider.

21st century immorality.

Who is an authentic Indian?

Playwrights as anthropologists.

Lisa Ray talks to Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, about her autobiography, Close to the Bone; in which she traces her nomadic existence: her entry into the Indian entertainment industry at sixteen; her relationship with her parents; her battle with eating disorders; being diagnosed with multiple myeloma at thirty-seven; her spiritual quest; and the heartaches and triumphs […]

Everyone’s a goddamn writer.

Leading life on my terms.

The people who are transforming India.

Anthony Horowitz shows you how to weave irresistible and delightful tales.

Hungarian poet Istvan Voros  introduces his country through its poetry

The story of a gentleman, bureaucrat and minister. 

The myth of the maternal instinct.

The author talks about a rational approach to  contentious issues that plague us.

The Annual Quiz that tests authors on their literary knowledge. Watch them struggle with book titles, innocuous titles, Pictionary, and a whole lot more in this fun event!

Rejection stories from writers.

Monica Ali chats about her groundbreaking novel Brick Lane, that was nominated for the Booker Man Prize in 2003, her life, her work, her muses, and her Bangladeshi-British identity. 

Infinity meets words.

Anita Nair’s writing spans various genres, but the one thing her books have in common is a deep sense of character, time and place.

A talk based on the book, Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where They Came From’.

Infinity meets words.

The singing poet Jurczok 1001 explores the aesthetics  of Repetition and Pause in poetry.

Nine parallel lives, four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious red stiletto reveal a darker side of human nature.

followed by a conversation with N Chandrasekaran.

How social entrepreneurs are changing the world.

Alex Rider is one of the best loved series in the teenage literary world. Author Anthony Horowitz talks about how this phenomenon came about, how he keeps it fresh, and what’s next for the super spy. He will be in conversation with Rohini Ramanathan.

Writing as catharsis.

An 8-step guide on how to censor women’s writing set in a boxing ring.

Comedian, author and cultural icon Shappi Khorsandi brings an acclaimed hour of sharp-tongued gags and whatever else is in her easily distracted mind.

The what if’s of Indian history.

Presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Shanta Gokhale followed by a conversation with Anil Dharker, and the 2019 Literature Awards.

Nine parallel lives, four infidelities, one missing person and a mysterious red stiletto reveal a darker side of human nature.