The 12th edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), which took place over the weekend, saw close to 30k people come together to discuss and delve into all things literature. The free-for-all, community-funded festival was attended by authors Devdutt Pattnaik, Ramachandra Guha and more. Among the attendees, sessions with authors Abraham Varghese, Mike Bearly, Sudha Murty, comedian Kanan Gill and actor Huma Qureshi were the most popular ones.

Speaking to us about the festival this year, organiser V Ravichandar says, “The festival has grown massively over the years. I call this a college fest on steroids!”

Author Shoba Narayan, who spoke on her recent book Namma Bangalore, enjoyed interacting with the “forward” crowd at the do. “We spoke about Bengaluru being home. It’s quite wonderful seeing people who have lived here forever, people like me who have lived for a few decades and others who have recently moved, come together for the discussion,” she says.

According to author Amish Tripathi, who was at the fest this year along with his sister Bhavna Roy, Bengaluru is “the biggest readers’ market in the country and BLF exemplifies that”. “The last edition I attended was quite small, but BLF has grown massively. My books perform really well here, so I make it a point to do a tour for every release,” shares Tripathi.

Young minds at work

The fest also played host to a Children’s Literature Festival (CLF), which featured three stages and a workshop space. Vikram Sridhar, curator of CLF, says, “It’s heartwarming to see children of all ages being present and actively participating here. We have seen a two-fold growth in the number of attendees, compared to last year.”

Author Aparna Jaishankar is also in awe of how interactive the fest was, for kids and their parents: “It’s a lovely space to be in. I’ve been attending and doing sessions almost every year here.”

This edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival saw insightful sessions, book stalls teeming with young minds and happy faces