This year the Green Literature Festival (GLF) will open at Century Club, Cubbon Park, Bengaluru on 25 November from 10 am-6 pm.
The festival will host more than 20 authors, more than a dozen stalls on sustainable products, workshops by WWF India, The Habitats Trust and leading storytellers and writers. (Supplied)
“India is biased toward the big mammals. All the conservation efforts and even a lot of literature is on elephants, tigers and leopards. We want to have a deeper conversation on how to bring in other flora and fauna which are critical to conservation,” says Benedict Paramanand, founder of the Greenlit Fest.
The annual fest was launched in June 2021, by a team of writers and green enthusiasts to ensure knowledge and dialogues on environment, climate change are mainstream and India is prepared for these conversations.
In its third edition, this year, the Green Literature Festival (GLF) will open at Century Club, Cubbon Park, Bengaluru on 25 November from 10 am-6 pm.
As India’s only festival dedicated exclusively to all forms of literature on the environment, this promises to be a fiesta for eco-enthusiasts, nature lovers and readers of all ages and tastes.
Benedict Paramanand, founder of the Greenlit Fest. (Supplied)
The festival will host more than 20 authors, more than a dozen stalls on sustainable products, workshops by WWF India, The Habitats Trust and leading storytellers and writers. The organisers expect a big turnout from schools, colleges, eco-clubs, and lovers of literature, filmmakers, photographers and more.
GLF will open with an address by renowned author and environmental historian Ullas Karanth, Founder and Emeritus Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies.
“We usually don’t have any particular theme. But this time we want to promote holistic conservation. Our first session is Mega Mammal Myopia – Looking Past the BIG stars of Conservation with stalwarts like Mahesh Rangarajan, Sejal Mehta, Rohan Arthur and Karthik Shanker. The session is focussed on the need to open up about writing on other animals and animal species, small and big, and also the fungi, which are critical to holistic conservation,” Paramanand tells South First.
Paramanand and his team are keen on ensuring the active participation of the youth at the festival to make literature accessible. “We are getting students from school, colleges, and eco clubs. It is not a one-day initiative. We have newsletters going out round the year, and we review books. GLF also focuses a lot on social media, especially Instagram. This is the only way we can reach more youth,” he details.
View this post on Instagram
Besides social media, they hope to multiply their impact through partnerships. One of their key partners is WWF, which has a huge youth following. Their other partner Indian Youth for Climate Network plays a huge role in broadcasting their work.
Author Stephen Alter, Aparajita Dutta, scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation and Yuvan Aves, writer, naturalist, educator and activist will be discussing ‘Landscapes of Loss: Livelihoods in Peril’.
“I think the Western Ghats movement was a pioneer movement for the south of India. I think Professor Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha have been leading this initiative. Citizens’ engagement is now better because of the higher literacy rate, and local language publications are selling better in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and to some extent Karnataka too. Right now, all these movements are intellectual, but they have to become a people’s movement for things to change,” he explains.
South is at the forefront, but it’s still not enough, he adds. This is possible to achieve through good green literature. “That’s why our tagline reads: Learn More, Do More,” he notes.
While the first edition of the festival was online, the second was at the Bangalore International Centre. Expanding to a bigger, open venue this year, the festival will also include workshops for children.
View this post on Instagram
Author Nandini Nayar will conduct a masterclass on writing stories with animal characters. JoAnne Saldanha will conduct a masterclass on curating green libraries in schools and homes. The festival also includes a not-to-be-missed special edition of WWF-India’s and The Habitat Trusts workshop.
“We will grow bigger with more partnerships. What is doable despite the constraints, is to curate one or two sessions and collaborate for the green talk at other literature festivals,” he adds.
The highlight of the day will be the GLF Honour Book Awards, the only awards in India that exclusively celebrate writing on the environment in three categories: business, general fiction and non-fiction, and children.
All the winners receive a certificate, a trophy, and a cash award.
Date – 25 November, 2023
Time – 10 am to 6 pm
Venue – Century Club, Cubbon Park, Bengaluru
Entry- Free
Location- https://maps.app.goo.gl/RyngmKRB6Ux789dC7
To Register: https://greenlitfest.com/third-edition-programme/
Apr 26, 2024
Apr 26, 2024
Apr 26, 2024
Apr 22, 2024
Apr 21, 2024
Apr 21, 2024
