Central Sahitya Akademi announces winners of 21 languages
On Wednesday, the Sahitya Akademi announced the winners of the Central Sahitya Akademi Awards for 21 Indian languages. Among…
On Wednesday, the Sahitya Akademi announced the winners of the Central Sahitya Akademi Awards for 21 Indian languages. Among…
Legendary writer Amitav Ghosh won the Crossword Lifetime Achievement Award. The honors were also distributed among six diverse categories…
The Gateway LitFest, one of the renowned regional language literature festivals in India, launched its new logo and visual…
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The Gateway LitFest (GLF) brings India’s regional voices to life, celebrating languages and countless tales in a symphony of culture and tradition. Bridging worlds with translation, digital innovation, and cross-cultural exchanges, GLF crafts a boundless tapestry of literary unity.
Our nation, celebrated as the cradle of Sanskrit and classical literature, boasts a rich linguistic heritage with 22 major languages, 13 scripts, and over 720 dialects. With a thriving publishing industry that produces more than 100,000 new titles annually; many of them are exceptional works in regional languages. A few literary enthusiasts were inspired to create a platform to bring regional literature into the mainstream.
Harish Bhat is a bestselling author, poet, columnist and marketer. Harish has authored seven books, in genres spanning business history, marketing, fiction and poetry. His latest book, Jamsetji Tata – powerful learnings for corporate success, examines the ideas of the founder of the Tata group and what each of us can learn from them. Harish also writes popular columns for national newspapers. Linked In has selected him as one of their Top Voices in India. He has worked with the Tata group for 37 years, helping create and nurture many iconic brands. During 2022 and 2023, Forbes listed him as one of the world’s top ten most influential Chief Marketing Officers.
Narayana Bhattathiri, a celebrated artist from Kerala, graduated in painting in 1982. For over four decades, he has explored the beauty of Malayalam alphabets, crafting stunning titles for stories and poems. His calligraphy exhibitions have been held in prestigious venues across New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Banaras, and various locations in Kerala. Bhattathiri has received the esteemed Jikji Excellence Award in International Calligraphy for four years: 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021. His work was featured in the 5th Annual International Calligraphy Exhibition, San Francisco, in the US, as part of Calligraphers in Conversation. Notably, his calligraphy is permanently displayed at the Calligraphy Stone Park in Harbin, China, among the world’s finest works. A regular participant in the International TypoDay, he presented a paper on Malayalam calligraphy in 2023. He has also conducted workshops at renowned events, including the Kochi Biennale (2016-17), Callifest 2018 in Navi Mumbai, Kalakshar at Banaras Hindu University (BHU ), Varanasi, and TypoDay 2023, also held at BHU. In 2023, Bhattathiri served as the Festival Director for the First International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK). Additionally, he has contributed significantly to Malayalam typography by designing three Unicode fonts.
Manu S Pillai is a historian and the author of five books, most recently Gods, Guns & Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity (2024). A winner of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, he holds a PhD in history from King’s College London and has been writing in several national publications over the last ten years. His other books are: The Ivory Throne (2015), Rebel Sultans (2018), The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin (2019), and False Allies (2021).
Described by the Independent as a ‘one-woman, agit-prop literary-political movement’, Meena Kandasamy is a poet, writer, translator, anti-caste activist and academic based in India. Her extensive corpus includes two poetry collections, Touch (2006) and Ms Militancy (2010), as well as three novels, The Gypsy Goddess (2014), the Women’s Prize short-listed When I Hit You (2017) and Exquisite Cadavers (2019). In 2022, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) and was also awarded the PEN Hermann Kesten Prize for her writing and work as a ‘fearless fighter for democracy, human rights and the free word.’ Her latest published work is Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You, a collection of her political poetry of the last decade.
Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade, born in the village of Sangavi in the Khandesh region of Maharashtra, is a Marathi language writer, poet, critic and linguistic scholar. Nemade wrote his first novel Kosala in 1963; it brought new dimensions to the world of Marathi literature. Kosla is extensively translated into various languages including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, and Oriya. This was followed by a tetralogy consisting of novels Bidhar, Hool, Jareela and Jhool. In 2013, Nemade published his magnum opus titled Hindu: Jagnyachi Samruddha Adgal which is regarded as his masterpiece. As a critic, Nemade’s contribution rests in initiating Deshivad, a theory that negates globalisation or internationalism, asserting the value of writers’ native heritage, indicating that Marathi literature ought to try to revive its native base and explore its indigenous sources. Nemade is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as the Jnanapith Award. He was the fourth laureate receiving the award for work in Marathi language. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
Politician, public intellectual, writer, and former diplomat.
Is director, Genesis Film Production and Partner, Lacadives and Co-Founder Reef Watch Marine Conservation.Founder and Chairman, PKSBE.He started his career in advertising in the early 70‘s in ASP Delhi. He then moved on to gain experience in feature films with his mentor and leading filmmaker Shyam Benegal. After assisting him on renowned features like “Ankur”, “Nishant”, “Manthan” and“Bhumika” between 1974 to 1977, he moved on to become an independent film director in the field of Advertising. Prahlad has ruled the advertising world with his brand of irreverent humor, memorable brand building campaigns and has created award winning commercials for the most reputed Corporates and agencies in India and the Asia Pacific region for over four decades. Known as the “Ad guru” he has been instrumental in changing the face of advertising in our country bringing in the appropriate “regional Indianness” and values into an urban context through his films, creative workshops, articles and interviews. He has helped create memorable campaigns for brands like Pepsi “Yehi heh right choice baby! Aha” Gold spot “The zing thing”, Maggie “2 minutes?” Britannia “ting ting ti ting”, Limca “Zor ka Jhatka” and Maggi Sauces “Its different!”. has won several awards for technical excellence, Innovation and creativity in advertising over the years. Genesis won both Gold and Silver awards including “Campaign of the Year” for the Pepsicommercials at AAAI. His Public service films for Ceat, won awards in the New York Festival of Advertising. Commercials directed by Prahlad have also been nominated for Lions at Cannes. Within 20 years of his career Prahlad Kakar earned himself a Lifetime Achievement Award by the IAAFA early in his career in the year 1999 and has got Genesis the top Production House for 2 years in a row for years 2003 and 2004 by Brand Equity. Prahladıs aesthetics and sensibilities have found shape and form in the hundreds of films done over a career that spans over 40yrs. Lacadives in the is the first Scuba Diving School established over 3 decades ago in Kadmat, Lakshadweep Islands in 1993. Prahlad Kakar is the co- founder of ReefWatch Marine Conservation, which aims at creating marinelife awareness for students and adults across the sub-continent. His passion for cooking led him to run restaurants and a tealounge with his own brand of gourmet cooking. He founded PKSBE, a Branding and Ad Film Making School so that he could take his experiences and mentor young minds to follow their dreams.
ARUNDHATHI SUBRAMANIAM is a leading Indian poet and author of fourteen books of poetry and prose. Her most recent work includes the Penguin anthology of female mystic poetry, Wild Women, and the prose work, Women Who Wear Only Themselves. A recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry 2020, and shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry 2015, her awards include the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for Poetry, the inaugural Khushwant Singh Poetry Prize, the Il Ceppo Prize in Italy, the Raza Award for Poetry, the Mystic Kalinga Award, the Charles Wallace and Homi Bhabha fellowships, among others. She has been active as curator, performing arts critic and poetry editor of the India domain of the Poetry International Web. She divides her time between Mumbai, Chennai and New York.
She won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for her film A Night of Knowing Nothing. In 2017, her short film Afternoon Clouds was the only Indian film that was selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival.[5] In 2024, she won the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival for her film All We Imagine as Light.
film producer, screenwriter, and director who works in Hindi cinema. In 2016, Rao co-founded Paani Foundation, a non-profit organisation working towards the mission of fighting drought in Maharashtra. She is the board member of Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image. Director of Lapata Ladies, Idia’s Oscarentry.
Achyut Palav is a Master Calligrapher who has made promoting Indian calligraphy and scripts his mission in life. He considers the numerous phonetically evolved scripts of India to be superior examples of design with each letterform a work of art with highpotential of application across media and subjects. He has done extensive work in many Indian scripts especially Devanagari and explores various styles and concepts. He is renowned for his experiments in the art particularly fusion calligraphy and use of unconventional media and tools. Through his inspiring and informative exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops, lectures and national level calligraphy festivals Achyut has successfully demonstrated the artistic and commercial potential of the art. His paintings highlight the ability of calligraphy to seek the hidden subtlety, energy and emotions behind words and have artistically captured their meaning. His work also encourages people to view Indian scripts in a whole new light and experience how the artform manifests itself in various facets of Indian culture. Achyut has established Achyut Palav School of Calligraphy and also initiated Callifest – Festival of Indian scripts which are the first of their kind in his country. He has been a part of prestigious national and international events, exhibitions and seminars and has to his credit many corporate campaigns, promotions, logos etc. Achyut has received many awards and accolades which include a National Award for his book Aksharanubhav and most recently theprestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by IDC IIT Bombay and Banaras Hindu University. Achyut has given numerous presentations, Calligraphy Fusion performances, published over 7 books and given live demonstrations in India and abroad. Workshops, lectures and demonstrations have taken in him to places like USA, France, UK, Russia, Netherlands, Germany, China, Dubai, S. Korea, etc. His paintings are in collection of Stiftung archives, Klingspor Museum (Germany), Akademic Der Kuenste, (Berlin), Armenian Consulate, Société Générale (Paris, France) and European Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy (Russia).
A series of community-driven micro events under the GLF umbrella hosted at local libraries, book clubs, colleges, literary clubs and other institutes. The goal is to foster meaningful connections among book lovers across cities and towns through lively discussions centered around diverse topics.
To create an ecosystem where every regional literary stream flourishes and reaches its fullest potential, enabling every Indian author, regardless of language receive the recognition they deserve at the highest levels.
Mohan Kakanadan
Gateway LitFest Secretariat
2105-06, Cyber One
Sector 30A, Vashi
Navi Mumbai 400703
Mob: 9820556869/ 8208913112
Email: gatewaylitfest@gmail.com