One of the Premier Culture Events of the Subcontinent
Five years after being founded to ācelebrate the margins, generic ā the fiercely independent, non-profit and no-logos Goa Arts + Literary Festival (GALF) has unexpectedly emerged as one of the premier cultural showcases of the subcontinent. The fifth anniversary edition in Panjim next week (December 4-7, goaartlitfest.com) promises to be the best ever, with strong literary and artistic delegations from Singapore, Nepal, Australia and Pakistan, as well as GALFās usual mix of some of the best established and emerging literary and artistic talent from across India and beyond.
GALF 2014 has scheduled sessions every day on the pressures and challenges for both independent and corporate media in the Internet age, featuring an extraordinary lineup of senior journalists and editors: Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose, Sreenivasan Jain, Naresh Fernandes, Samar Halarnkar and Priya Ramani, Govindraj Ethiraj, Sachin Kalbag, Prashant Jha and Cyril Almeida of Pakistanās Dawn newspaper.
Goa Streets is proud to be among GALFās media partners!
GALF will host the āhometown releaseā of Rajdeep Sardesaiās nationwide bestseller, ā2014: The Election that Changed Indiaā, as well as the exclusive first-ever launches for some of the most anticipated books of the year: Dr. Rajmohan Gandhiās āPrince of Gujaratā, Mamang Daiās historical novel āThe Black Hill, Hindol Senguptaās āRecasting Indiaā, Aditya Adhikariās āThe Bullet and the Ballot Boxā and new books in English translation from the eminent Konkani writers Mahabaleshwar Sail and Damodar Mauzo.
Other notable āfirstsā at GALF 2014 include āOdalisqueā, the first-ever exhibition of paintings outside the United States by Daisy Rockwell, the unique painter, translator (from Hindi) and writer. The grand-daughter of legendary American artist Norman Rockwell, she will also release her new novel āTasteā on December 7. Also making his much-anticipated India debut is Chee Malabar, the veteran American rapper of Indian origin, who will release his new album āFeral Childā.
The Goa Arts + Literary Festival is free, and registration is not required to walk into the daily sessions at the International Centre Goa at Dona Paula. Those interested in eating all meals along with the delegates can register for a nominal fee at goaartlitfest.com, where the festival programme will be available from Dec 1. However, the organizers are urging visitors who are interested in specific sessions to arrive at the venue early ā GALF 2014 is likely to be the best-attended so far, and the most popular sessions are likely to become filled to capacity.
These include conversations and panel discussions featuring several of the most acclaimed authors and books of 2014: the multi-talented rockstar of Carnatic music, TN Krishna whose āA Southern Musicā has been described by Amartya Sen as āone of the best books Iāve ever readā, and debut novelist Mahesh Rao, whose wonderful āA Smoke is Risingā won the Tata Literature Live award, and the poets Ranjit Hoskote, Keki Daruwalla, Arundhathi Subramaniam and Sridala Swami who are four of the five finalists for the first-ever Khushwant Singh Prize for Poetry.
Food, music, poetry, art, literature and journalism,Ā Goa Arts + Literary Festival has become a highlight of Goaās and Indiaās cultural landscape. Book the dates now.