Chandigarh, November 15
Dr Sumita Misra, IAS, Chairperson, Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) & Festival Director, CLF Literati 2025(Chd. LitFest) held a curtain raiser press conference to give a low down on the upcoming CLF Literati 2025(Chd. LitFest) taking place from November 21 to 23. Dr Misra informed that the literary fiesta is being organised by CLS and that on Nov 21 a cultural evening will be held to mark the start of the festival. She said that the literary discussions will take place from Nov 22-23 at the Lake Club with the serene Sukhna Lake in the backdrop.
Dr Sumita Misra said, “This year’s celebration of literature, ideas and imagination is themed ‘Worlds Within Words’. As many as twenty-seven (27) authors, poets, ad-film makers & artistes will take part in interactive sessions over two days. The festival will feature fifteen (15) thought-provoking sessions, four (4) book launches and one creative writing workshop.”
“We have planned an interesting line-up of authors from across India and one from Australia who will be seen in discussion with well-established interlocutors on issues that continue to shape contemporary discourse,” added Dr Misra.
Among the most anticipated names at this year’s festival is Prahlad Kakkar, the advertising filmmaker and ad guru, known for iconic Ad Campaigns. Also joining the stellar line-up is acclaimed actress and poet Sandhya Mridul among other well- known names from the literary and art world.
A cultural performance ‘Saaz Au Aawaaz’ by renowned artiste Bhuvan Sharma on the evening of Nov 21 at Rani Laxmi Bai Bhawan, Sec 38 will kick-start the lit fest.
The literary exchanges will begin on Saturday, Nov 22 with a welcome address by Dr. Sumita Misra, followed by an opening address by Sh. Madhav Kaushik, President, Rashtriya Sahitya Akademi. Post this the following interactive sessions will be organised:
In ‘The Power of a Story: Advertising Insights’ Prahlad Kakkar will be engaged in a conversation by writer Aradhika Sharma; In ‘Indian Democracy: Evolving Polity and Public Discourse’ Shahid Siddiqui former MP known for his memoir ‘I, Witness: India from Nehru to Narendra Modi’; Rasheed Kidwai known for books like ‘24 Akbar Road’ & ‘The House of Scindias’, and award winning journalist Neerja Chowdhury will be interacting with veteran journalist Ramesh Vinayak; In ‘Bangladesh: The Story of an Unfinished Revolution’ Deep Halder acclaimed author, known for his books ‘Blood Island, Bengal’, and ‘Being Hindu in Bangladesh’; and author & researcher Rami Desai , will have a tete-a-tete with senior journalist Kartikey Sharma.
The Day 2 of the festival shall witness two book launches ‘The Silent Brave’ by Mehak Grover and ‘The Legend of Sanjhi-Giri’ by Manju Jaidka.
This will be followed by a session ‘Shabd Ki Sugandh: Hindi Sahitya Ka Naya Daur’ in which Madhav Kaushik, poet and biographer Chandra Trikha and motivational speaker & writer Chandra Shekhar Verma will engage in a conversation with senior journalist Shayada Bano; in ‘Dil De Kaagaz Utte: Navi Leher De Kalamkaar’ , Manmohan Singh (IPS) Retired & an acclaimed & award winning poet and author-poet Bubbu Tir will interact with author Ravee Pandher; in ‘Chandigarh: The City That Is, and That Wasn’t’ architectural historian Rajnish Wattas will be seen in conversation with historian & author Rajiv Lochan; Dr. Sumita Misra a celebrated poet will be seen in conversation with journalist Manraj Grewal in ‘She Writes, She Leads: Statecraft & Stanza’; and in ‘Untamed Silences: The Many Lives of Sandhya Mridul’, Sandhya Mridul will be in conversation with writer and poet Sonia Chauhan.
In the evening of Nov 22, CLS in collaboration with ‘Nritya Praangan’, Bhavan Dancing Courtyard will present ‘Swarit Mudrayen’ a Bharatnatyam presentation by disciples of Dr Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar at Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, Sec 27.
On Day 3 – Sunday, Nov 23 the final day the festival, the fest will start with a ‘Creative Writing Workshop’ by Sonika Sethi and Deviyani Singh; ‘Spiritual Chords: Stories of Change and Choice’ shall see Shalini Modi who has written book ‘Rasas in Divine Relationships and Immortality: A Boon or a Curse’ and Krishnapad Das Krishna – a spiritual mentor with The Akshaya Patra Foundation in conversation with Annurani Sharma a bilingual poet, writer, and devotional singer; ‘Roots and Recipes: A Wellness Conversation’ shall showcase a discussion between Rujuta Diwekar India’s leading nutritionist and public health advocate in conversation with academic and author Urvi Sharma; ‘Bihar Diaries and Ground Zero: Real Heroes, Real Stories’ will present Amit Lodha the IPS officer who’s bestselling work ‘Bihar Diaries, Life in the Uniform, and Police Affairs’ was made into a popular OTT series and former national hockey player Veena Raman who is the wife of the late IPS officer Vijay Raman and has co-authored his memoirs, in conversation with IPS officer & author Arsh Verma.
These sessions will be followed by the launch of two books – ‘Life, Love and Us’ by Sonia Vashisht Oberoi and ‘Echoes of the Soul’ by Ravee Pandher.
Post the book launches, the sessions planned are ‘ India Through Memory and Travel’ which will see Sean Doyle an Australian author interacting with poet Sunaina Jain; ‘Telling Tales, Touching Lives’ will witness Shobha Tharoor an award-winning author and Mona Verma – another award-winning author in conversation with Sonika Sethi; ‘Saaz Aur Sama: The Art of Qawwali’ will see Classical Dancer & Creator of Sufi Kathak, Manjari Chaturvedi; founder-director of Rhyvers Publishing Group & Sufi Columnist Affan Yesvi and a sufi musician, popularly known as ‘Prince of Qawwali’- Dhruv Sangari – in conversation with poet, translator, and researcher Dr. Vishakha Goyal; ‘Seedha Samvaad’ will showcase a discussion between prolific Hindi writer Balram and Vijay Kapoor a renowned poet, storyteller & playwright; ‘From Krishna to Chanakya: Retelling Bharat with a Twist’ will present English fiction author, Ashwin Sanghi in conversation with Aradhika Sharma the author of ‘Sunita Williams: Astronaut Extraordinaire’.
The festival will conclude with the CLF Literati Awards Ceremony in which CLF Literati Awards will be presented to winners in the Fiction & Non-Fiction categories of both English and Hindi by Dr. Sumita Misra and Team Literati.
The Books Short Listed For CLF Literati Awards:
In English Non- Fiction
‘Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization’ by Devdutt Pattanaik (Harper Collins Publishers India); ‘The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India’ by Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Aleph Book Company); ‘In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines’ by Najma Heptulla (Rupa Publications India); ‘Another Day in Landour: Looking Out from My Window’ by Ruskin Bond (HarperCollins Publishers India) and ‘A Wonderland of Word: Around the Word in 101 Essays’ by Shashi Tharoor (Aleph Book Company).
In English Fiction
‘Unknown City: A Novel’ by Amitabha Bagchi (HarperCollins Publishers India);‘Rosarita Pan’ by Anita Desai (Macmillan India);‘The Comeback: A Novel’ by Annie Zaidi (Aleph Book Company); ‘The Ayodhya Alliance: Bharat Collection 8’ by Ashwin Sanghi (HarperCollins Publishers India) and ‘Whistles of the Siphoong: Tales from the Bodo Heartland’ by Rashmi Narzary (Om Books International)
In Hindi Fiction/Non-Fiction
‘Shubh Din’ by Balram (Rajkamal Prakashan Pvt. Ltd); ‘Kaamnaon Ki Munder Par’ by Geetashree (Rajkamal Prakashan Pvt. Ltd) and ‘Shea Butter’ by Kaifi Hashmi (Lokbharti Prakashan)
