Smaller literary fest offers better conversations

The Hyderabad Literary Fest that has come to a close has raised some questions. Will it ever reach the levels of its Jaipur counterpart? The answer came as a surprise. Many felt that smaller the fest, the better it is and that is where the third edition of Hyderabad Literary Fest scored.

Author Tabish Khair, who is now settled in Denmark, reasoned, “The way we interact at the fest changes with the size of the audience. Smaller fests offer a chance for more personal interaction. At large scale fests, the audience is as lost as writers are. There is lesser scope for any constructive discourse.”

The other big plus of the fest was the considerable representation almost every genre of literature got. It boasted of a good number of English, Hindi, Telugu poetry and reading sessions. Translation of literary works and attention to children’s work were other highlights of the three-day event.

Bill Wolak, professor of English and comparative literature, said, “I have been to fests around the world, even in India, but I had quite a diverse experience here. The fest had Indian writers, local language writers, IndianAmerican writers and a lot of foreign ones.”

But there were some factors which did unsettle its reckoning and should be improved upon in the subsequent editions, suggested the litterati.

The turn-out, especially of students, was poor in the last two days despite the fact that it was hosted in the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, where writers felt the absence.

Abha Iyengar, who writes both in Hindi and English, has the reasons for it. “The venue is so far flung from the city.” Other participating authors too felt the venue should have been more centrally-located in the city. Some felt the information about the fest might not have been put across “that well” among the public, others felt the presence of a celebrity or popular young writers might have pulled a larger audience at a fest “that is still taking baby steps.”

“Literary fests are not only about networking with peers,” says Bill, adding, “It’s also about sharing the ideas with people from nonliterary backgrounds. We need young listeners, they will be the future of literature, after all.”

There were other suggestions to improve the proceedings of the fest. Latika Mangrulkar, who flew in from the US, said, “Instead of panel discussions, each writer/poet should have personal time with their audience. I enjoyed the fest more outside the corridor than in the rooms.”

Author Tabish Khair felt too many agendas were packed into three-days. Some even complained about the delay in schedule at the fest.