AMU Literary Festival | |
Genre: | Literary festival |
Frequency: | Annually, Feb-March |
Organised: | University Debating and Literary Club, Aligarh Muslim University |
Venue: | Kennedy House Complex |
Location: | Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh |
Country: | India |
Patron: | Prof. Tariq Mansoor |
Years Active: | 2015–present |
Activity: | Workshops, Lectures, Interaction sessions, Discussions |
Participants: | Open for all |
AMU Literary Festival is an annual literary festival organised by Aligarh Muslim University.[1] University Debating and Literary Club (UDLC) formerly University Literary Club of the university organises the festival. Some of the previous invitees include news anchor and author Rajdeep Sardesai, poet Keki N. Daruwalla, politician Mani Shankar Aiyar and independent journalist Rana Ayyub.
The festival is organized under the auspices of the University Literary and Debating Club of the Aligarh Muslim University.[2] The club consists of students as its members. The festival is the University Debating and Literary Club's flagship event.
Journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai talking about media, activists such as Paranjoy Guha Thakurta talking about crony capitalism and novelists like Chandrahas Choudhury having panel discussions about the Indian novel; the festival is a diverse celebration of literature and mass communication, in all its forms.
The festival attracts audience from all across the city, transcending the boundary of the university. Previous invitees include the poet Keki N. Daruwalla, politician Mani Shankar Aiyar and independent journalist Rana Ayyub. With people from diverse areas coming together and talking about the issues of the day and age, the festival is truly a melting pot of culture. Workshops to teach students about the ins and outs of various forms of writing and public speaking are also conducted as a part of the festival, which rounds out the educational experience.
The University Literary Club was established in 1973. The club is the extension of the oldest literary Society of AMU, the "Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Literary Society" founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan himself. The University Literary Club was rechristened as University Debating and Literary Club in 2015.
The festival was organised from 8–10 March 2019.[3]
Day 1, March 8, 2019
Day 2, March 9, 2019
Reading Literature in the Age of 140 characters by Mr. Jerry Pinto, Dr. Nafis Faizi and Mr. Md. Danish Iqbal, moderated by Mr. Kashif Ilyas. The discussion was centred around the condition of literature in this age of extremities, and how instant gratification on social media and the shortening attention span of people has impacted literature.
Book Launch and Discussion on the book Lynch Files by Mr. Ziya Us Salam, moderated by Mr. Fawaz Shaheen. Mr. Ziya Us Salam talked about how murders in the past used to happen on religious grounds, but now lynchings are more of a conspiracy of targeting a particular person.
Ground(ed) Report in the Digital Scape by Mr.Mahtab Alam, Mr. Shoaib Daniyal, Mr. Gulam Jeelani, moderated by Prof. Mohammad Sajjad. The panelists talked about the problems faced by journalists in the digital era of reporting. There were also discussions about how difficult it is to report on communal violence. The issue of fake news was an important point.
Majoritarianism: The Undoing of Democracy by Mr. Ziya Us Salam, Mr. Shoaib Daniyal and Prof. Asmer Beg, moderated by Dr. Tarushikha Sarvesh. The major topics of discussion were minority issues, communal violence, safety of women, etc.
Conversation on Mothering a Muslim by Ms. Nazia Erum. The book focuses on Muslim women, especially Muslim mothers, a group which, she said, has little representation in Indian literature. Professor Ayesha Munira was the other panelist.
The last event of the day was Zabaan-Daraaz by the University Drama Club.
Day 3, March 10, 2019
Urdu Novel ka Badalta Manzarnamah by Mr. Rahman Abbas, Prof. Shafey Kidwai and Prof. Tariq Chhatari, moderated by Prof. Siraj Ajmali. They talked about the rising position of the Urdu language in Indian popular culture. Where short stories have made a comeback, the Urdu novel still hasn't found its place.
Literature and Resistance: Rethinking the Politics of Literature by Dr. Shah Alam Khan, Prof. Apoorvanand, Mr. Manoj Jha and Mr. Harsh Mander, moderated by Dr. Irfanullah Faarooqui. The discussion revolved around the way literature has become a medium of dissent over the years, and how, in the current socio-political scenario, writers have to be careful with their words.
At the end there was a tribute to Ankit Chadha & Dastan-e-Tamanna-e-Sarfaroshi, and the LitFest 2019 concluded with a qawwali by the Folk and Traditional Music Club of Aligarh Muslim University.
Name | Field | |
---|---|---|
Siddharth Vardarajan[4] | Journalist, Academic, Founding Editor of https://thewire.in | |
Nazia Erum[5] | Journalist and author | |
Journalist, columnist and author | ||
Indian writer and journalist | ||
Writer and journalist | ||
Professor, Delhi University, Social critic | ||
Executive Editor- The Wire Urdu, journalist and writer | ||
Shah Alam Khan | Author and Professor of Orthopaedics, AIIMS, New Delhi | |
Author and Professor, University of Delhi, Member of Rajya Sabha | ||
Editor, TheLallantop.com | ||
Journalist | ||
Director, Centre of Equity Studies and Social activist | ||
Scholar, novelist, playwright and television scriptwriter | ||
Journalist and Assistant Editor of Mail Today | ||
Author, poet, and recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award (2016) | ||
Author and Sahitya Akademi Award Winner (2018) |
The festival was organised from 9–11 March 2018.
Day 1, 9 March 2018
Day 2, 10 March 2018
An Ordinary Man's Guide to Radicalism by Neyaz Faarooqui
Clouds by Chandrahas Choudury
Ghalib ke Khatoot & Faiz and Alys Faiz's Letters presented by Impresario Asia, Shamir Abadan, Mannu Kohli and K.K Kohli.
Day 3, 11 March 2018
Life Imitating Literature or Literature Imitating Life: A Debate in the Context of Identities- Chandrahas Chaudhury Akhilesh, Prof. Asim Siddiqui. Moderator- Dr. Irfanullah Farooqi
Disabled Literature: Creative Writing, Pedagogy and Politics of Disability Representation- Dr. Hemchandran Karah, Dr. Jyothsna Phanija, Boopathi P. Moderator- Alisha Ibkar
People as Numbers: Re-engaging with Politics and Democracy in India- Prof. Apoorvanand Jha, chaired by Prof. Mirza Asmer Beg
Name | Field | |
---|---|---|
Print journalist | ||
Founder, Chairman, and principal shareholder of Polyplex Corporation Limited | ||
Professor of Sociology, University of Delhi | ||
Columnist and former deputy editor of The Hindu | ||
Professor at Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University | ||
Poet, Fiction Writer, editor, and essayist | ||
Journalist, author, radio storyteller, scriptwriter, and lyricist | ||
Indian historian, novelist, political and social essayist |
The festival was organised from 3–5 March 2017.
Name | Field | |
---|---|---|
Actress | ||
Poet in Hindi, essayist, literary-cultural critic and a former civil servant | ||
Prof. Manoj K Jha | Professor of Social Work | |
Poet, activist and essayist. | ||
Author and journalist | ||
Journalist | ||
Medical officer and activist | ||
Writer | ||
Hilal Ahmed[7] | Editor, writer, teacher and producer | |
Literary critic and novelist |
Name | Field | Video link | |
---|---|---|---|
News anchor and author | Watch video - 1, 2, 3 | ||
Journalist and political commentator | Watch video - 1, 2 | ||
Poet and writer | Watch video - 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||
Diplomat and politician | Watch video - 1, 2 | ||
Literary critic and novelist | |||
Mariam Karim Ahlawat | Teacher, freelance editor and a writer | ||
Satyarth Nayak | Author, script-writer & journalist | ||
Feminist writer and professor | Watch video - 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||
Rana Safavi[8] | Author and historian | ||
Sarwat Khan | Contemporary Urdu writer |
Name | Field | Video link | |
---|---|---|---|
Writer and journalist | Watch video - 1, 2, 3, 4 | ||
Poet and editor | |||
Scholar, novelist, independent documentary filmmaker and television scriptwriter | |||
Writer, critic and literary historian | |||
Radha Chakravarty[9] | Writer, critic and translator | ||
Academician, novelist, literary critique, theologian, secularist, columnist and broadcaster | |||
Aseem Ahmed Abbasee | Lyricst poet and creative writer | ||
Yaseen Anwer[10] | Multilingual poet | ||
Lyricist and screenwriter | |||
Journalist and independent columnist | Watch video - 1, 2 | ||
Sami Ahmad Khan | Author | ||
Manisha Sethi | Teacher and author | ||
Hilal Ahmed[11] | Editor, writer, teacher and producer | ||
Dr. Saamdu Chettri[12] | Head of first Gross National Happiness Centre[13] |