Capt. G.R. Gopinath, soldier, farmer, columnist, author and entrepreneur, will inaugurate the 4th Mysuru Literary Fest-2023 organised by Mysore Literary Association (MLA) at Maharaja’s College Centenary Hall in city on Jan. 22 at 10 am.

Association President Prof. K.C. Belliappa, who is also the former Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, will preside over the programme.

Dr. Deepti Navaratna, Neuro Scientist and author, Prakash Belawadi, actor and director, Prof. H.S. Shivaprakash, poet and playwright and Dr. Abhimanyu Acharya, actor and educationist will participate.

Yesterday, SOM had published profiles of Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Dr. Deepti Navaratna and Prakash Belawadi. Today, read about other two speakers who will take part in the Fest.

Prof. H.S. Shivaprakash

Topic: Bhakti and Siddha: Dimensions of Indian Poetry and Poetics

Born in 1954 at Bengaluru, Prof. H.S. Shivaprakash retired as Professor, Theatre and Performance Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, in June 2018.

Author of 9 books of poems, 15 plays and 3 critical works in Kannada, which are widely discussed, performed and translated into several Indian languages and into English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Polish, Romanian, Lithuanian, Slovak, Turkish & Arabic.

He has won several best book prizes from Karnataka Sahitya Akademi for books of poems, translations and plays.  Winner of the prestigious Rajyotsava Award from Karnataka State (2006) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award from National Theatre Akademi (1997), Sahitya Akademi (2012), Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award (2016), Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Translation Award (2016) and Kusumagraj Kavya Puraskar (2017), he has participated in International Writing Program in School of Letters, University of Iowa, USA (2000).

He was the former Editor of Indian Literature, the Journal of National Akademi of Letters; Former Dean, SAA, JNU; Former Director, The Tagore Centre, Berlin, Germany. He has participated in many important poetry festivals all over India, USA, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He has travelled, lectured and read poetry in various countries in Europe, Asia and Americas. Important English publications include “Like Earth to Stars” (Mumbai 2018), “Guru: Ten Doors to Ancient Wisdom” (New Delhi 2018), “Everyday Yogi” (New Delhi 2014), “In Other Words” (Mumbai 2014), “Autumn Ways” (New Delhi 2011), “I Keep Vigil of Rudra” (Penguin Classics 2009), “Traditional India Theatre” (New Delhi, 2006), “Indian Theatre” 2000 (edited) New Delhi, 2011), Mahachaitra and other plays.

Dr. Abhimanyu Acharya

Topic: Drama in Education and Education in Drama

Dr. Abhimanyu Acharya was educated at various schools abroad before taking his Senior Cambridge at The Scindia School in Gwalior. His under-graduate education was at St. Stephens’ College, Delhi and his Master’s degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He earned his doctorate in Human Resource Development from Cheshire University, United Kingdom. 

After a stint with the Government of India at Singapore, Abhimanyu Acharya took up teaching at his Alma Mater, The Scindia School, Gwalior. After a very successful stint at Gwalior, he left to head an Integrated Rural Development Project near Bengaluru where he stayed for 15 years. In 1995, he was appointed Principal designate of the I.T.C. Residential School and remained till 2000, the Principal Academic Resource to the ITC-Education Trust. 

He was also the Coordinator of WWF-India’s activities in the four Southern States where his expertise in ethology and wild animal care were given full rein. From 1996, Abhimanyu Acharya advised the Government of Andhra Pradesh on International Education and established an International School in Hyderabad. He was also, briefly, the Advisor to the Chairman, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. after which he returned to Hyderabad. He was inducted as the Director and Chief Knowledge Officer of Careercommunity.com Ltd. He was also the Chief Editor, The Hindu Opportunities.

He is also a prolific writer, on various subjects of an eclectic nature widely published both in India and abroad. He has more than 1850 publications to his credit. Dr. Acharya established AA Associates in 2002, which specialises in Educational consultancy and he was the prime mover in the establishment, on a turnkey basis of Colleges and schools across the                            country and abroad. 

He has been involved in the creation of several international schools in Kolkata, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, Wanaparti and Udaipur. He has set up an engineering college, a catering college, two business schools and a Marine institute in Kolkata and the Royal University College in Sharjah, UAE. He continues to serve on the Boards of Management of several of these institutions. This also gives him the opportunity of indulging in his passion to direct and produce plays at the institutions with which he is associated. Several of his plays have been professionally performed in prestigious public venues such as the Kamani Auditorium (for the Mayo College, Ajmer) and the Bashirudin Babukhan Auditorium, Hyderabad (for Glendale Academy). He is also the Educational Advisor to His Highness Sheikh Faisal bin Khalid Mohammed Al Qasimi, Crown Prince of Sharjah for whom he has set up the Royal University College in Sharjah.

Dr. Acharya is the UGC Professor of Eminence at Hamdard University, New Delhi. He is based in Hyderabad, though his presence is required all over the world to deliver courses in Human Resources Management at prestigious business schools such as The Warwick Business School, UK, The Rotterdam Business School and at the Maastricht School of Business in the Netherlands.  He is a popular consultant and provides guidance to several industries and was, at one point, the lead recruiting consultant to Arcelor Mittal worldwide.

Mysore Literary Association

Mysore Literary Association is a literary body registered in the year 2016 in Mysuru, the heritage city and cultural capital of Karnataka. Prof. K.C. Belliappa, the Founder-President of the Association, is a retired Professor of English from University of Mysore and former VC of Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh. Other office-bearers are: Prof. B.N. Balajee, Vice-President; Reginald Wesley, Hon. Secretary; B. Chethan, Treasurer; A.K. Monnappa, K.C. Haridas, Prof. Anita Vimla

Braggs, Prof. V.S. Shekhar, Prof. Nirmala Chandraprakash and R. Naveen Chandra — all Executive Committee Members.

The first Mysuru Literary Fest held in June 2017 was inaugurated by renowned novelist and Saraswathi Samman awardee Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa while the second edition was inaugurated by internationally-acclaimed Sarod Maestro Pt. Rajiv Taranath in August 2018 and third edition was inaugurated by Poet and Short Story Writer Keki N. Daruwalla in October 2019.