The session was presented with the Hindustan Times Crime Writers Festival New Delhi and Oxford Bookstores, supported by Embassy of France, Embassy of Israel, Italian Embassy Cultural Centre. The authors were in conversation with Kishwar Desai, eminent author and columnist, sharing their perspectives about the art of crime writing, various facets and the evolution of the genre.
About Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) 2016
Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF) is Kolkata’s pioneering literary festival. Instituted in 2010 by the Apeejay Surrendra Group and its heritage Oxford Bookstore on Park Street, AKLF grew out of the bookstore’s year round involvement with books, writers & publishers. In the seven years since Kolkata saw her first literary festival in AKLF, literary festivals have mushroomed across the country, but AKLF stands apart with its unique identity as the only one with a nearly 100 year old bookstore as its nucleus. AKLF offers an atmosphere of warm, welcoming intimacy, favours depth over size, and includes a variety of subjects, from history to the environment. AKLF also celebrates Kolkata’s magnificent public monuments and heritage sites as settings for Festival events, and eminent literati and cultural stalwarts from across India and overseas join the festival scheduled every year in the second week of January.
In 2016 AKLF celebrates diverse themes encompassing books, theatre, the arts and cinema. AKLF‘s focus is on younger writers, newer voices and fresh audiences in its on going attempt to build an audience for books and reading. The 7th edition of AKLF is poised to scale new heights, with an outstanding and meticulously curated programme, bringing the world and the nation to Kolkata. Continuing to celebrate the city’s magnificent public monuments and heritage sites the festival rediscovers the quaint and hidden charms of the city through heritage walks. AKLF highlights several unique concepts with a fresh approach that reflects current concerns such as diversity, gender equality, continuities across borders and youth engagements, which are also broad themes running through the festival. AKLF signature heritage sites include Nandan, Town Hall steps, The Indian Museum, Presidency University, Tollygunge Club and Victoria Memorial.
AKLF 2016 has participation from Australia, Israel, Scotland, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal as well as England, France, Germany, Pakistan, Bhutan and others. Some of the prominent personalities who will be part of the literary extravaganza are Ben Okri, Meera Syal, Christine Manfield, Ashis Nandy, Vir Sanghvi, Bharathi S Pradhan, Shatrughan Sinha, Shobhaa De and more. The four day long, multi-faceted event has several stimulating components designed to give visitors and the audience an enriching experience, with a great blend of literature, culture, art and heritage. And all of this is absolutely free for Kolkata and her culture-loving audience.
Kishwar Desai is an Indian author and columnist. Her novel The Sea of Innocence has been published in India, UK and Australia. Her first novel, Witness the Night won the Costa Book Award in 2010 for Best First Novel and has been translated into over 25 languages. It was shortlisted for the Author's Club First Novel Award and longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her critically acclaimed novel, Origins of Love was published in June 2012 and dealt with the controversial subject of surrogacy and adoption. Desai also has a biography Darlingji: The True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt to her credit. She has also had a long and successful career as a print and TV journalist.
Victor Ghoshe - An award-winning International communication specialist by profession and a musician at heart, Victor Kalyan Ghoshe is an explorer and a social researcher. Ghoshe has been responsible for developing mass communication strategies for over five countries besides India. He now works with BBC, India, as a Senior Adviser and lives in New Delhi with his wife, Juthika, and son, Shivank. Victor leaves a cinematic imagery in the mind of the reader through every sentence he composes. His style is controlled, precise, meticulous, and yet, it evokes deep emotional responses from readers. His stories depict a fine sensitivity without using melodrama or dramatic excesses. He has evolved a simplistic style that is almost invisible. He strongly believes that the best technique of storytelling is the one that's not noticeable. Victor Ghoshe's latest is a research-based historical thriller in the name of The Job Charnock Riddle. Recently launched by the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee veteran actor Sri Soumitra Chatterjee the book is already creating a stir in the literary field.
Liad Shoham, is an Israeli writer and attorney. His LLB is from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and he did his LLM in International Commercial Law at the London School of Economics. Shoham, who still works as an attorney, writes legal thrillers, and is considered Israel’s leading crime writer and often compared to John Grisham. All his crime novels (six to date) have been critically acclaimed bestsellers. His books are realistic depictions of Israel’s criminal justice system, as the police and the courts themselves are reflections of the country’s society. Some notable titles written by him are Unlisted Number (2008), A week in the life (2008) Fruits of the poisonous tree (2009), Retrial (2010), Line up (2011), Asylum City (2013), Blood Oranges (2014). Liam also wrote two children’s books, Daddy is building a cake (2013) and My First Goal (2014).
Veronique Ovalde - was born in 1972 and is the author of several novels including, in English, Kick the Animal Out and And My See-Through Heart. She has two children, works in publishing, and lives and writes in Paris.
Piergiorgio Pulixi was born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1982. He is a member of Sabot, an experiment in collective crime fiction writing created by Massimo Carlotto, Italy’s preeminent author of crime fiction. He lives in London.
Barun Chanda is an advertising professional, actor and author. The most memorable role has been in Satyajit ray’s ‘Seemaboddho’ for which he won a special President of India Award. In 1992 he was a part of director Rituparno Ghosh's debut film Hirer Angti. He has been a part of a number of acclaimed films like Kalo Cheetah, Tolly Lights, Antaheen and Laptop. His most recent film Bela Sheshe has been both a critical and commercial success. He has also tackled Bollywood with equal aplomb with movies like Lootera and Roy. Other than his acting prowess, Barun is also a prolific writer who along with being a regular film reviewer and contributor of articles to major dailies, in the last eight years has published four highly acclaimed and successful novels in Bengali. His work has played a major role in establishing the adult thriller genre in Bengali literature. The actor’s two novels in Bengali, Shaaper Jhaapi and Kidnap, were whodunnits featuring private eye Abinash Roy. His new work Coke (2015) is his first novel in English.
