The Unforgiving City and Other Stories

Panellist: Vasudhendra

Vasudhendra was born in Sandur in Ballari. He is an engineer by profession and a writer by passion. He has written 13 books in Kannada and sold more than 80,000 copies. His latest book ‘The Unforgiving City and Other Stories’ is published by Penguin India, in English. He is also the recipient of many prestigious awards including Kannada Sahitya Academy book prize, Da Ra Bendre Story Award and the U.R. Ananthamurthy Award.

He is associated with the local support groups for LGBT individuals. He runs his own publication house, Chanda Pustaka which has aims to specially encourage debutant authors. It has set up the Chanda Pustaka Award to encourage young short story writers.

Moderator: Dr. Mysuru Nataraja

Dr. Mysuru Nataraja is a resident of the United States of America and he has been an active Kannadiga and has served the Kannada Sangha in Washington DC as its President. He has worked in the nuclear industry in the US and has been the recipient of the prestigious award given by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for his services.

He has also served Kannada Literature by writing many collections of poems, short stories, essays and plays. He has been conferred with the Goruru Award and the Alwa’s Nudisiri Award at Moodabidri. Amidst his busy professional life in a foreign land, he has worked extensively towards activities related to Kannada language and people.

Virtual session Date: October 20 – Time: 8.30 pm IST

14 Stories and One Rogue

Panellist: M. Gopakumar

M. Gopakumar has an MBA from IIM Bangalore and he has been a busy professional in the corporate sector for a couple of decades. A nature lover and a passionate conservation activist, he is involved in doing extensive work in conserving the river otters of Cauvery River and its tributaries.

He is the Executive Director of Nityata River Otter Conservancy and is based in Bengaluru. Nityata’s primary goal is to conserve otters and otter habitat. Gopakumar states that the otters are important because they help us get an indication of the levels of pesticides and pollution in river waters.

Moderator: C.R. Hanumanth

C.R. Hanumanth holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Trichur Engineering College. He worked in Salem for 7 years in the family textile business before shifting to Mysore in 1993.

Passionate about nature and its conservation, he is part of NGO Junglescapes which has been restoring degraded forest habitats in Bandipur Tiger Reserve since the past 13 years. 

This year when Rotary International introduced ‘Supporting the Environment’ as its 7th Area of Focus, Hanumanth, a Past President of Rotary Mysore West, was nominated as Environment Chair for the District.

Those interested to take part in the festival may register at: www.mysuruliteraturefestival.com. The event will be telecast live on YouTube handle: Mysuru Literature Festival. For details, contact Mobile: 99802-50114