Gateway Litfest – One Venue, Countless Voices

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

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

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

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).

Meena Kandasamy

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.

Naseeruddin Shah

Actor, starred in various international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

Shashi Tharoor

Politician, public intellectual, writer, and former diplomat.

Anurag Kashyap

Film director and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2013.

Payal Kapadia

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.

Kiran Rao

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

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).

Feb 28 – March 1

The Royal Opera House, a timeless symbol of Mumbai’s cultural legacy has been home to history and grandeur since its royal inauguration over a century ago.

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.

Gateway LitFest’s visual identity adopts the elegance of Indian calligraphy, blending diverse scripts to symbolize inclusivity. The identity mark is subtly shaped as GLF, fusing a pen nib with an open book – a nod to storytelling and the festival’s legacy.

To create a space where both established and emerging writers from every Indian language unite, share insights, foster unity, and amplify the richness of our literary heritage to the world.

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.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Chairman

Adoor, as this master of imaginations is fondly called, needs no introduction. His contribution to the world of cinema, both Indian and international, during the past half-a-century is unparalleled. Adoor launched himself into the universe of cinema with Swayamvaram (One’s Own Choice) way back in 1972, kicking off a new wave in filmmaking. Since then, the ace story-teller has been enthralling the world with many classics.
His repertoire of avant-garde films include Kodiyettam (Ascent), Elippathayam (Rat Trap), Mukhamukham (Face to Face), Anantaram (Monologue), Mathilukal (The Walls), Vidheyan, (The Servile), Nizhalkkuthu (Shadow Kill) and Kathapurushan (Man of the Story). His latest movie Pinneyum (Once Again) was launched mid-2016.
Adoor received the national award for best film twice and for best director five times. Elippathayam has won the prestigious British Film Institute Award in 1982. He has won the International Film Critics Prize six times in a row.
Wisconsin University in the US has opened an archive of his films and set up a research fund. It stores all of his films in 35-mm format, in Blue-Ray discs and DVDs. Adoor’s movies are already included in the curriculum on Asian cinema at Colorado and a couple of other American universities.
Adoor has also secured a name for himself as an author with four books on cinema. His first book received the national award for best book on cinema and his collection of essays titled Cinema Samskaram got him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award. For his contributions to world of cinema, the nation honoured this master story-teller and filmmaker with a Padma Shri in 1984 and Padma Vibhushan in 2006. He is also a recipient of nation’s highest honour for cinema, the Dada Phalke Award, in 2004.
Adoor heads the Gateway LitFest advisory panel as the chairman.

Pratibha Ray

One of the most revered women writers in our literary history, Pratibha is a household name in her home state of Odisha with a number of best sellers. The nation honoured her with the Jnanpith in 2011. She began writing at the tender age of nine and her first novel Barsha Basanta Baishakha in 1974 instantly became a best-seller for its treatment of social issues and readability among semi-literate and literate readers. Her writings overflow with boldness, revolt and humanism and each of them searches for a social order based on equality, love, peace and integration. She has penned 21 novels, 25 short-story collections, 14 travelogues, two poetry books and three essay collections. Her novel Jajnaseni has notched up 90 editions in Odia. She is the only woman writer till date to win the Moortidevi award. An eminent educationist, Pratibha is a PhD in educational psychology and holds a post-doctoral degree in tribalism and criminology. Madam, we’re privileged to have you here again for the second time amidst us.

Sitanshu Yashaschandra

Sitanshu is among the most eminent representatives of contemporary Gujarati literature. A much celebrated poet and playwright, he is also a critical theorist, translator and academic. His creative, critical and academic works have received wide acclaim in the country and elsewhere. He has received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award in 1987.
Sitanshu has been invited to recite his poems at many international literary fora in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgard, Moscow, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seoul etc and also in Delhi, Jaipur, Shimla, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Guwahati, Patna, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad etc.
A Fulbright Scholar and a Ford West European Fellowship recipient, Sitanshu has a Doctorate in comparative literature from US and another Doctorate in Indian poetics from Mumbai. He has been a professor and chair of Gujarati at the MS University, Baroda, from 1972, and has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris & University of Pennsylvania.

Subodh Sarkar

The prolific Bengali and English writer and poet with over thirty titles, Subodh is an Associate Professor of English at the City College, Calcutta University, a Fulbright Fellow for 2016/17, a visiting professor of English at the University of Iowa, US, and a participating poet at the International Writing Program of the University of Iowa, apart from chairing state-run Kobita (poetry) Academy. From 2010 to 2016 Subodh was the guest editor of the Indian Literature, the flagship journal of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi.
He has participated in many international seminars held in France, Greece, the US, Canada and Taiwan. His works, mostly in Bengali, have been well recognised, and has bagged many prestigious honours like the Sahitya Akademi award and Bangabhushan award from the Bengal government.

Bose Krishnamachari

An internationally acclaimed painter and artist-curator, Bose is the founder-member and president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the organisers of Kochi-Muziris Biennale that has redefined the public approach to contemporary arts. An alumnus of the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and the Goldsmiths College of the University of London, Bose’s works comprise vivid abstract paintings, figurative drawings, sculptures, photography, multimedia installations and architecture.
A recipient of many an award, including the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi award (1985), British Council Travel award (1993), Mid-America Arts Alliance award (1996), Chales Wallace India Trust award (1999-2000), and the Life Time Fellowship award by the Kerala Lalita Kala Akademi, Bose was also the first runner-up for the Bose Pacia Prize for Modern Art in New York in 2001. He was the guest of honor at the Arco, Madrid in 2009.

Laxman Gaikwad

The Marathi novelist Laxman is best-known for his work The Branded, the English translation of his autobiographical novel Uchalaya that brought him international recognition. His other notable novels include Dubang, Chini Mathachi Divas, Samaj Sahitya Ani Swathantra, Wadar Vedna, Vakila Pardhi, Utav and A Swathantra Konasat. Laxman has won several awards, including the Sahitya Akademi, Sahitya Ratna, Anna Bahu Sathe Puraskar, Saarc Literary award, Saarc Writers’ award, Maharashtra Foundation award, Limca Book award, Gunther Sontheimer Memorial award, and Maharastra Gourav Puraskar.

Uma da Cunha

Uma has been closely associated with the Film Society Movement playing a key role in taking Indian cinema to the global audience and bringing the world cinema to our side of the globe. After a Masters in English from Delhi University, and a degree from Richmond University in the US, Uma began her carrier in advertising where she spent over a decade. In 1974, she quit advertising and joined the Directorate of Film Festivals in New Delhi where she worked for three years. Since the mid-1990s she is the India representative at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Uma is also associated with the New York Film Festival for Indian films. As a film journalist, writer and researcher, she has edited the first complete biography on Satyajit Ray titled Montage Monograph, which she published in her maiden name Uma Krupanidhi in 1967. Since 1975, she has been writing a chapter on Indian cinema for the renowned British magazine The International Film Guide.

S Prasannarajan

Prasannarajan is an editor and essayist who writes on politics, books and ideas. Having worked with the Times of India, the Indian Express and the India Today in the past, he currently edits the Open Magazine. He lives between New Delhi and London.

Sachin Ketkar

The Baroda-based Sachin is a bilingual writer, translator, editor and critic, with a collection of poems in Marathi and English. Apart from translating and editing an anthology of Marathi poetry titled Live Update, Sachin has also translated short-stories and poems from Gujarati and Marathi into English. He holds a PhD in translation studies and is currently a professor at the English department of the MS University, Baroda.
He has worked as a contributing editor to the New Quest, a journal for participatory cultural enquiry, from Mumbai. His style of poetry is hailed as “unusually paradoxical” as his poems are both too self-centred and outwardly at the same time. His works mostly reflect the world in an exceedingly personal way while his topics are mostly very mundane and un-poetic but written in an exceptionally imaginative way.

C. Gouridasan Nair

Gouridasan is a senior Kerala-based journalist with over three decades of experience. Currently, he is the associate editor and chief of bureau of the Hindu in Thiruvananthapuram. He is equally visible and active in the Malayalam electronic media, being a regular at live television debates and news programmes as an expert on the state’s politics and society.
The eldest son of prominent Malayalam writer, the late Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair, Gouridasan has won many awards for his journalistic excellence.

A J Thomas

Indian English poet, and translator with more than 20 books. He was Editor of Indian Literature, and later, its Guest Editor for about seven years in two stints. Has M.Phil, and PhD degrees in English(Translation Studies). Taught English in Benghazi University, Ajdabiya Branch, Libya from 2008 to 2014. Was also a Senior Consultant at IGNOU. Translator of illustrious writers like O.N.V. Kurup, Paul Zacharia and M. Mukundan and editor of books by U.R. Anantha Murthy. Co-edited Best of Indian Literature (1500 pages in two books and four volumes, Sahitya Akademi). His latest contribution (November 2023) is The Greatest Malayalam Stories Ever Told an anthology of 50 short stories which are modern classics of the last 100 years selected and translated by him, published by Aleph Book Company, New Delhi. A recipient of Katha Award, AKMG Prize (which enabled him to tour USA, UK and Europe in 1997) and Vodafone Crossword Award (2007). Holder of Senior Fellowship, Department of Culture, Govt. of India and was Honorary Fellow, Department of Culture, Government of South Korea. He has been invited as a Guest Speaker in writers’ conferences and readings in South Korea(thrice), Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Nepal, besides centres all over India.