With COVID-19 locking down cities, the fourth edition of Mysuru Literature Festival-2020 organised by Mysuru Literary Forum Charitable Trust and Mysuru Book Clubs-2015 will be held virtually on every weekend from Aug. 14 till Sept. 5. This edition has a wide range of authors and speakers as Panellists. Today, SOM features Aug. 14 and Aug. 15 Panellists.

Date: August 14 | Time: 7.00 pm

Panel: Openings: Writers on Their Beginnings

Panellists

V. V. Ganeshananthan (Minneapolis, United States) 

V.V. Ganeshananthan is the author of the novel Love Marriage, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize and named one of Washington Post Book World’s Best of 2008. She teaches fiction and non-fiction writing in the MFA programme at the University of Minnesota.

Preeta Samarasan (France)

Preeta Samarasan is the author of the novel Evening Is The Whole Day (2008), as well as of numerous short stories and essays.

Soniah Kamal (Atlanta, United States)

Soniah Kamal is an award-winning novelist, essayist, public speaker and a lifetime member of JASNA. Her novel, Unmarriageable: Pride & Prejudice in Pakistan is featured on PBS Books. Publishers Weekly hails it a ‘must read for devout Austenites’ and Shelf Awareness has said that ‘If Jane Austen lived in modern-day Pakistan, this is the version of Pride and Prejudice she might have written.’ 

Tania James (Washington, D.C. United States)

Tania James is the author of three works of fiction: The Tusk That Did the Damage, Aerogrammes and Other Stories, and Atlas of Unknowns. Tusk was named a Best Book of 2015 by The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, and NPR, and shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize.

Date: August 15 | Time: 8.00 pm

Panel: Openings: Writing about Place

Writers Andaleeb Wajid and Mathangi Subramanian write across genre, time, and audience, but their work has one thing in common: it is all set in Bengaluru. In this panel moderated by Bengaluru-based journalist Rohini Mohan, Wajid and Subramanian discuss the joys and challenges of writing about place.

Panellists

Mathangi Subramanian (Denver, United States) 

Mathangi Subramanian is an Indian American writer and educator who believes stories have the power to change the world. Her novel A People’s History of Heaven was a finalist for the LAMBDA literary award and PFC-Valley of Words Prize, was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner and the Centre for Fiction First Novel Award, and was named a Skipping Stones Honor Book. 

Rohini Mohan (Bengaluru, India)

Rohini Mohan is a journalist writing on politics, environment and human rights in South Asia. She is the author of the award-winning nonfiction book, The Seasons of Trouble (2014), set in post-war Sri Lanka, and Mission Cycle, a children’s book set in Kashmir. In 2019, she won the Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons. 

Andaleeb Wajid (Bengaluru, India)

Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author having published 25 novels in the past 10 years. She writes in genres like romance, horror, and young adult. Her novels, House of Screams and The Tamanna Trilogy have been optioned for screen in 2020.