The 14th edition of “Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest” has ended culminating in a literary event studded with reputed names from diverse fields like Andrey Kurkov, Anjan Sundaram, CS Lakshmi, Briohny Doyle, Elif Shafak, Faye D’souza, Jerry Pinto, Luke Coutinho, Kunal Vijayakar, Manoranjan Byapari, Mehdi Hasan, Salman Rushdie, and more.
The LitFest boasted sessions ranging from book launches, panel discussions, debates, performances, and workshops. The topics of discussion included current themes to traditional motifs, from serious topics to lighthearted talks as well.
Here are some highlights of the successful event:
Table of Contents
Shashi Tharoor on AI
No literature fest in India is complete without the presence of Shashi Tharoor. In his key session Tharoor talked about his latest book with coauthor Joseph Zacharias titled – The Less You Preach, The More You Learn: Aphorisms for Our Age.
Aphorisms, as Tharoor explained, are concise and witty sayings that are full of wisdom and insight. He talks about how he created these aphorisms in his book that give advice on every area of life from success in life, love, work and dispeling feelings of insecurity, frustration and dealing with depression.
He talks about his love for the English language, his role models in writing, his inspirations as the audience listens with rapt attention.
Then Tharoor is joined by Marcus du Sautoy OBE professor of mathematics at University of Oxford and author of books like ‘Around the World in 80 Games’ and ‘The Creativity Code’ and tech consultant and entrepreneur Parvez Diwan to talk about AI and its implication on creativity.
Tharoor believes that “Imagination is a particularly human quality” and that we should emphasize on teaching the next generation on how to accept the challenges of a changing world by teaching them how to think and not what to think. So although AI will become a part of our lives, Tharoor doesn’t believe that it can replace artists and writers.
CS Lakshmi receives Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023
CS Lakshmi is known under her pseudonym Ambai, telling women’s stories about the intricacies of love, relationships, and quests. Writing primarily in Tamil, many of her works have been translated into English. This is not her first literary recognition as she is the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel Sivappu Kazhuthudan Oru Pachai Paravai (A Red-Necked Green Bird).
Her impact on Indian literature is significant, breaking new grounds when women pursuing education was not common. She has a PhD from JNU and has taught at school and university levels. She is also the co-founder of SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archive for Research on Women)
“I am honored to receive this award, which has been received in the past by writers I admire,” C. S. Lakshmi stated upon learning of the award.
Mamang Dai novelist and journalist from Arunachal Pradesh has been awarded the Poet Laureate Award. Sanjoy Hazarika, international director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has been awarded the The Rotary writing for Peace Award.
List of Tata literature fest book of the year winners
- Fiction Book of the Year: Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s The Secret of More (Aleph Book Company)
- Nonfiction Book of the Year: Sara Rai’s Raw Umber (Westland Books)
- First Fiction Book: Smriti Ravindra’s The Woman Who Climbed Trees (HarperCollins Publishers)
- First Nonfiction Book: Abhishek Choudhary’s Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924-1977 (Pan Macmillan India/Picador)
- Business Book of the Year: Esha Chhabra’s Working To Restore: Why We Do Business in the Regenerative Era, (Penguin Random House India)
- Publisher of the Year: Pan Macmillan India
To catch more of the Tata Literature Fest debates and talks check out Elif Shafak’s talk with Salil Tripathi and Salman Rushdie’s talk with Tishani Doshi.
