Kolkata, January 13, 2025: The final day of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2025 at Allen Park featured a spectacular lineup of events, bringing together renowned authors, historians, and storytellers.
The day began with Once Upon a Time, where Rana Safvi, Anita Agnihotri, and Harshali Singh discussed India’s historical depth, moderated by Shampa Mukherji. Ira Mukhoty presented The Lion and the Lily, a session on the rise and fall of 18th-century Awadh, with Rudrangshu Mukherjee as the Chief Guest for the book launch.
In Life, Actually, Rupleena Bose, Anisha Lalvani, and Shabnam Minwalla shared insights into the experiences of young women in modern India, moderated by Jashodhara Chakravarti. Ashis Nandy’s The Psyche of a People explored The Gujaratis and socio-political psychology in a conversation with Salil Tripathi. M.K. Raina revisited the Kashmir of his childhood in The Way Back Home, alongside Vikram Iyengar, through his touching memoir Before I Forget.
Romantic themes took center stage in Of Hookups and Breakups, with actress Shenaz Treasury and Nitish Bhushan discussing love and loss, moderated by Ramona Sen. Renowned historian and author Ramachandra Guha presented Speaking with Nature, reflecting on environmentalism before the climate change debate.
Of Deities, Demons, Queens, and Kings engaged the audience with a discussion on mythology, featuring Anand Neelakantan, Akshat Gupta, Anuja Chandramouli, and Priyanka S. Kaintura, moderated by Lopamudra Maitra. Javed Akhtar’s poetic brilliance was celebrated in Jadu! Shair Extraordinaire, with translations by Sumantra Ghosal and moderated by Supriya Newar. Historian Sugata Bose examined the evolving concept of ‘Asianness’ in Asia Rising, sharing his thoughts with Jayanta Sengupta.
The festival concluded with Table Talk, where Sunita Kohli launched The India Cookbook – From the Tables of My Friends. Usha Uthup and Shaun Kenworthy, joined by moderator Oindrilla Dutt, explored the warmth of food and community.
The Oxford Junior Literary Festival continued to engage young readers at the Oxford Bookstore, Park Street, with storytelling and interactive sessions. Hemangini Dutt Majumder captivated children with engaging tales, while Shabnam Minwalla led a session on adventure and mystery for middle schoolers, sparking creativity and imagination.
The Poetry Café highlighted love, identity, and the beauty of language in a soulful evening curated by Ramanjit Kaur and moderated by Kaur and S.V. Raman. The event featured poets Mrityunjay Kumar Singh (Hindi), Iryna Vikyrchak (Ukrainian), Baisali Chatterjee Dutt (English), Ananya Chatterjee (Bengali), Sunil Bhandari (English), Supriya Newar (Hindi/Urdu), Anurag Maitreyee (Bengali), Bhupinder Singh Bashar (Punjabi), Arthur Cardozo (English), Abhijit Palchoudhuri (Bengali), and Sangeeta Bapuli (Sindhi). The evening also included performances by Swastika Mukherjee and TCA students, Chinmoy Guha’s reflections on 20th-century French poetry, and an open mic hosted by Anjana Basu and Baisali Chatterjee Dutt, where poetry lovers shared their original works.
The festival was supported by several esteemed partners, including Kenilworth Hotel (Hospitality Partner), Cha Bar (Refreshments), Calcutta Business School, ILead, and Teacher’s Centre (Institutional Partners), Glenburn Penthouse, and Alliance Française du Bengale (Festival Collaborators), The Park (Festival Partner), and Flurys (Gifting Partner).
