The first edition of The Pondy Lit Fest (PLF) 2018 will be held between August 17 and 19 here.
The festival would be inaugurated by Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani at Gandhi Thidal on August 17 at 5.30 p.m. Organised by Indologue, The Pondy Lit Fest has been conceived as a platform for outstanding thinkers, writers and artists to propose new and creative solutions.
Lalit Verma, president of Alliance Francaise and Partha Hariharan, Director of Indologue, told presspersons that the idea was not only to bring writers to Puducherry but share what Puducherry had with the world. Over 24 personalities from Puducherry had confirmed their participation for the festival, the organisers said.
Authors such as Amish Tripathi, Kittu Reddy, Michel Danino, K. Panjangam, Vengadasoupraya Nayagar, David Annoussamy and R.V.S. Mani and many more will participate in the event.
Mr. Verma said that over 50% of the authors were from Puducherry. “This is only going to enrich our town with many new ideas”.
The festival would have 35 book launches. Three panel discussions will be held simultaneously. There will be 12 sessions each on August 18 and 19, he said.
Partha Hariharan, organiser and Director of Indologue Events and Ideas Pvt Ltd, said the festival was an apolitical event and had nothing to do with politics. This was to exclusively project cultural, artistic and literary features. All the participants were noted thought providers and researchers and book launches will also be part of the festival.
Mr. Verma said that the PLF would showcase “high quality sessions on literary, cultural, social, artistic and political importance with outstanding participants and thought leaders”. The evenings will be rounded off with music, poetry and the world famous Puducherry cuisine.
