Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He studied in Delhi, Oxford and Alexandria and is the author of The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, In An Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide, and The Ibis Trilogy, consisting of Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire. His most recent book, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, a work of non-fiction, appeared in 2016.

Amitav Ghosh’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and he has served on the juries of the Locarno and Venice film festivals. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic and The New York Times. They have been anthologized under the titles The Imam and the Indian (Penguin Random House India) and Incendiary Circumstances (Houghton Mifflin, USA). The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, a work of non-fiction, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2016 and was given the inaugural Utah Award for the Environmental Humanities in 2018.

Attending Sessions

February 3, 2023 ● 4 PM
Inauguration - Amitav Ghosh inaugurates the seventh edition of Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet

February 3, 2023 ● 4.30 PM
Climate Chaos - Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Sampad Patnaik

Anant Mahapatra

Anant Mahapatra is a highly acclaimed theatre and film personality from Odisha who has written, directed and acted in over 100 plays. He has also worked in film, television and radio. He has written, directed and produced short feature films for Doordarshan, and wrote the screenplay and directed Mamu — the first feature length film on Doordarshan in India — in Hindi and Odia. Mahapatra is the man behind Theatre in Motion, and the founder/director of SUJANI and Natya Shodh Sansthan. He founded the Utkal Rangamanch Trust, set up to give a fillip to professional theatre in Odisha after the old theatre companies of the early ’50s closed down in the ’70s.

Attending Session

Anirudha Bhattacharjee

Anirudha Bhattacharjee’s first book won the National Award for the best book on cinema. His second book was the winner of the inaugural MAMI award for excellence in writing. Kishore Kumar, the Ultimate biography is his fourth book. An amateur musician, Anirudha is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and works as an SAP consultant.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 11.50 AM
Yeh Shaam Mastani - The Magic of Kishore Kumar - Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar discuss their biography of Kishore Kumar. In conversation with Balaji Vittal

Anupam Patnaik

Anupam Patnaik is an Indian film producer who works primarily in the Odia film industry. He made his debut as a producer with Tulasi Apa (2017). It is directed by his father, Amiya Ranjan Patnaik after a hiatus of more than three decades. The movie was screened at several film festivals and has won several awards since 2015. It finally got a theatrical release in 2017. It has Barsha Nayak, Sujit Paikrai and Mamata Panda in prominent roles. 

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 4 PM
Bapa to Pratikshya - Gourahari Das and Anupam Patnaik trace the film’s journey from page to screen.  In conversation with Ratikanta Satapathy (Odia Session)

Bachi Karkaria

Bachi Karkaria is a game changer in India’s journalism, having helped create path-breaking brands for the Times Of India Group. She is also a best-selling author, litfest curator and international media trainer. She was the first Indian board member of the Paris-based World Editor’s Forum, a Jefferson Fellow from Hawaii’s  East West Center, and recipient of the Mary Morgan Hewitt Award for Lifetime Achievement. Karkaria’s books include the critically acclaimed In Hot Blood: The Nanavati Case That Shook India, Dare to Dream, the bestselling biography of M.S Oberoi, Mumbai Masti; Mills, Molls and Moola; Behind The Times; and The Cake That Walked. 

Attending Sessions

February 3, 2023 ● 6.20 PM
In Free Fall - Mallika Sarabhai in conversation with Bachi Karkaria

February 5, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
Balancing a Life - Bachi Karkaria, Jatindra Nayak and Khushwant Singh on whether a biography can be objective. In conversation with Sashmi Nayak

February 5, 2023 ● 4.50 PM
Shelf Life - Can Libraries and Bookstores Survive in the Digital Era? - Jatindra Nayak, Bachi Karkaria and Anuj Malhotra in conversation

Balaji Vittal

Balaji Vittal is the co-author of the National Award winning book RD Burman: The Man, The Music  and the MAMI Award winning book Gaata Rahe Mera Dil – 50 Classic Hindi Film Songs. His most recent book is his 1st solo-authored book – Pure Evil: The Bad Men of Bollywood.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 11.50 AM
Yeh Shaam Mastani - The Magic of Kishore Kumar - Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar discuss their biography of Kishore Kumar. In conversation with Balaji Vittal

Barry O’Brien

One of the country’s leading quizmasters, Barry O’ Brien has enthralled quizzing crowds from Pilani to Powai, Kathmandu to Karachi, Delhi to Dubai and also down South. He is a skilled motivational speaker and India’s most sought after Master of Ceremonies.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 1.10 PM
The Anglo-Indians - Barry O’Brien in conversation with Sashmi Nayak

Chitrita Banerji

Chitrita Banerji, a Bengali-American writer, grew up in Calcutta, India, and came to the United States as a graduate student. She received her Master’s Degree in English from Harvard University. She now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and travels frequently to India.

In her writing, Banerji uses both fiction and nonfiction to examine the relationships between memory, history, culture, religion, and food. She is the author of several books on the food and culture of her native India—Bengali Cooking: Seasons and Festivals,  Feeding the Gods, and Eating India. Time Out, London, listed Eating India among the best new food books of 2008. 

Her first novel, Mirror City (2014), was published by Penguin Viking. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (2018) is her first biography, published by Juggernaut.

Chitrita Banerji’s latest book, A Taste of My Life–A Memoir in Essays and Recipes–was published in December 2021 by Picador India. 

Banerji spent seven years in the country of Bangladesh (formerly East Bengal). The experience of living in both parts of Bengal made her keenly aware of the attractions and antipathies that can exist between people who straddle the barriers of religion and class. In both fiction and nonfiction, she has dealt with the ebb and flow of these contrary human feelings that often get the better of our rational, pragmatic selves. 

Banerji has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Gastronomica, Gourmet, and Granta. She has presented papers at the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery where she twice won a Sophie Coe Award in Food and History, in 1998 and 1999. Many of her articles have been reprinted in anthologies in the UK and the US, including the Granta Book of India and the Best American Travel Writing 2006.

She worked for several years as an editor, journalist, and translator. From 1992 to 2000, she was the Publications Director of the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston.

Attending Sessions

February 4, 2023 ● 11 AM
The Divine Whirl - Lessons in Syncretism from Sri Chaitanya and Sufi Saints - Chitrita Banerji and Moin Mir in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil

February 5, 2023 ● 12.20 PM
Feasting India - Chitrita Banerji in conversation with Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Gayatribala Panda

Dr. Gayatribala Panda is one of the most eminent representatives of contemporary Odia literature. A poet, fiction writer, literary critic, essayist, academician and editor, she has authored twenty six number of books out of which nineteen books of poetry, four novels, two collections of short stories and one collection of essay; her poems have been translated into many Indian languages including English and Hindi. She is the recipient of Kendra Sahitya Akademi Puraskar in Odia for her poetry collection “DAYANADI”(River Daya) in 2022, first Kendra Sahitya Akademi “ Yuva Puraskar” in Odia for her poetry collection “GAAN” (The Village) in 2011, State Youth Award for poetry, Times Power Women-2021, Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for popular writer of the year 2011 and Utkal Sahitya Samaj Yuva Kabi Samman etc among others awards. 

In 2012, She was named as one of the ten best young writers in the country by the English daily Indian Express (Eye Magazine). She was the ‘Writers in-residence’ at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2015. She was the only Odia to get this honour. Her poems and stories have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. She was the Editor of Anyaa, a widely-acclaimed Odia literary journal.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 2.20 PM
Odia Darpan - Mona Lisa Jena, Paramita Satpathy, Gayatribala Panda in conversation with Sakti Mohanty (Odia Session)

Gourahari Das

Gourahari Das is an Indian writer and writes in Odia Language. He can be called a traveller. His journeys, both figurative and literal, have made a writer out of him.Born in 1959 in a very remote Indian village Sandhagara near river Mantei Gourahari Das has come a long way. Real-life experiences acquired while growing up in an impoverished monastery sharpened his skills as a writer and endowed him with a sensibility laced with compassion and humour which gives his creative being its distinctive character. A front-liner among Indian authors writing in Odia, Gourahari is not only a fictionist, playwright, critic and poet but a Media-academician and a leading journalist.

A recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, India Gourahari is a creative writer, editor and columnist. His first book Juara Bhatta which is a collection of short stories, was published in 1981 when he was still pursuing his studies in Ravenshaw Evening College. Besides writing fiction he also writes regular columns in the newspaper SAMBAD which are very popular. He is also the recipient of prestigious Koraput Literary Award 2019, from Odia Media Private Limited, the organiser of Koraput Literary Festival.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 4 PM
Bapa to Pratikshya - Gourahari Das and Anupam Patnaik trace the film’s journey from page to screen.  In conversation with Ratikanta Satapathy (Odia Session)

Himanshu Mohapatra

Dr. HimansuMohapatra is an academician and translator, with a specific interest in Anglo-American Critical Theory, Fiction Theory and translation. He has published extensively both in academic journals as well as newspapers and periodicals. His recent work is a translation of Basanti, an Odia collaborative novel widely held to be the first feminist novel in Odia.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
The Universe of Jagadish Mohanty - Himansu Mohapatra, Sarojini Sahoo and Paresh Patnaik discuss the pathbreaking contributions of the stalwart. Release of Mohanty’s Battles of Our Own (Nija Nija Panipatha) translated by Himansu Mohapatra and Paul St-Pierre (Odia Session)

Jatindra Kumar Nayak

Jatindra Kumar Nayak is a translator, literary critic, columnist, and editor from Odisha. He has translated many Odia works into English  including Yantrarudha as Astride the Wheel. He won the Katha Translation Award for his English translation The Descent. He is the co-translator of the Odia novel Chha Mana Atha Guntha into Six Acres and a Third. 

Rupantar is an organization that he founded in Bhubaneshwar which publishes translation of Odia books in English.

Attending Sessions

February 5, 2023 ● 11.30 AM
Discovering India Through The Arts - Richard Blurton discusses his new book with Jatindra Nayak

February 5, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
Balancing a Life - Bachi Karkaria, Jatindra Nayak and Khushwant Singh on whether a biography can be objective. In conversation with Sashmi Nayak

February 5, 2023 ● 4.50 PM
Shelf Life - Can Libraries and Bookstores Survive in the Digital Era? - Jatindra Nayak, Bachi Karkaria and Anuj Malhotra in conversation

Jerry Pinto

Based in Mumbai, Jerry Pinto has won the Best Book on Cinema Award for Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb in 2006. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2016 for his novel Em and the Big Hoom. He is a poet, novelist, short story writer, translator and a journalist. He is also the co-editor of Confronting Love and has a collection of poems to his name – Asylum and Other Poems which appeared in 2003.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 4.50 PM
The Education of Yuri - Jerry Pinto in conversation with Malavika Banerjee

Kanchana Banerjee

Kanchana Banerjee never wanted anything more than to write and she started her writing career with The Statesman, Kolkata in 1993. She completed her Master’s in English Literature from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She then went on to work for The Times of India, Hyderabad but took to freelancing after the birth of her son. Her articles have been published in almost all reputed publications and to diversify she began working forMNCs and PR firms.

Her debut book, A Forgotten Affair, was published in 2016 by Harper Collins. She is now a full time author, spinning yarns, creating characters.

Attending Session

Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh is a renowned author with master craftsmanship in writing biographies and historical fiction. Three of his books, The Turbaned Tornado biography of oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh, Maharaja in Denims and The Opium Toffee, are being adapted into cinematic experiences, making him one of the fascinating contemporary authors of India. His biography of erstwhile royal and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh set new standards in writing biographies of Indian political giants.

Fearless, creative and suave, Khushwant Singh has worn many hats, including a journalist, columnist, TV host, editor and farmer. He is currently the State Information Commissioner, Punjab making him a unique blend of top administrative experience and creativity.

Attending Sessions

February 4, 2023 ● 12.40 PM
Breaking News Thrillers - Khushwant Singh on how real-life headlines inspired his books. In conversation with Malavika Banerjee

February 5, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
Balancing a Life - Bachi Karkaria, Jatindra Nayak and Khushwant Singh on whether a biography can be objective. In conversation with Sashmi Nayak

Malavika Banerjee

Attending Sessions

February 4, 2023 ● 12.40 PM
Breaking News Thrillers - Khushwant Singh on how real-life headlines inspired his books. In conversation with Malavika Banerjee

February 4, 2023 ● 4.50 PM
The Education of Yuri - Jerry Pinto in conversation with Malavika Banerjee

Mallika Sarabhai

Mallika Sarabhai has been one of India’s leading choreographers and dancers for over four decades. In constant demand as a soloist and with her own dance company, Darpana, she has been creating and performing both classical and contemporary works. She has also produced over 3000 hours of television work talking about issues of the environment, women, communal harmony and violence. She has a Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour and has been honorary Director of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts for 40 years. She first came to international notice when she played the role of Draupadi in Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata for 5 years, first in French and then English, performing in France, North America, Australia, Japan and Scotland. Always an activist for societal education and women’s empowerment, Mallika began using her work for social change. She is known for creating hard-hitting theatrical works and stage productions which have raised awareness, highlighted crucial issues and advocated change, several of which productions have toured internationally as well as throughout India. Over the last 18 months she has motivated hundreds of people through her many webinars and interviews, and through Darpana’s project Nritya Parichay to bring mental health and self-esteem to thousands of marginalised youngsters.

Attending Session

February 3, 2023 ● 6.20 PM
In Free Fall - Mallika Sarabhai in conversation with Bachi Karkaria

Moin Mir

Moin Mir is a writer of both nonfiction and fiction. He began writing under the influence of his grandfather, a scholar of Sufism, Omar Khayyam and MirzaGhalib. His latest book ‘The Lost Fragrance of Infinity’ is a novel glowing with the essence of Sufism. India Today described it ‘as a Gospel of our times with a text so astounding that if a million copies were taught by rote, the world would certainly see a better direction and melting of hearts.’ Set in the 18th century against the dust clouds of three fading empires- the Ottomans, Persians and the Mughals, a tile maker flees Delhi and makes his way to Andalusia, Spain. A swirling historical epic in which craft, poetry and Sufi philosophy merge seamlessly in a story of passionate love, loss, compassion, psychological reckoning and redemption. The book majestically brings to life the contribution of Sufism to humanity, art and mathematics and is a celebration of human diversity and multicultural identities. Fluent in Urdu and Persian, Moin Mir speaks regularly at leading international literature festivals on topics ranging from Sufism, history and travel writing. He lives in London with his wife Leonie, an art and ceramics curator. His first book ‘Surat: Fall of a port. Rise of a prince’ (publ.2017) received high critical acclaim and was subsequently published in Britain as ‘The Prince who beat the Empire‘ in 2018.

Attending Sessions

February 3, 2023 ● 5.30 PM
Lost Fragrance of Infinity - Moin Mir in conversation with Pratiti Ganatra

February 4, 2023 ● 11 AM
The Divine Whirl - Lessons in Syncretism from Sri Chaitanya and Sufi Saints - Chitrita Banerji and Moin Mir in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil

Mona Lisa Jena

Mona Lisa Jena, 59,  is a Sahitya Akademi award winner bilingual writer, poet and translator. Her latest book, ‘When Ravens Speak and Horses Fly‘, a collection of Odia folktales, has been  published  by Sahitya Academi in 2022.

She has to her credit the Odia novel, ‘Nargis’, four collections of short stories and -three books of poems, ‘Nisarga Dhwani‘, ‘Ai Sabu Dhruba Muhurta‘, ‘Nakshatra Devi‘; and several volumes of translations.

Her ‘Dasuram’s Script‘, a collection of contemporary Odia stories, has been published by Harper Collins and her English translation of Pratibha Ray’s Odia novel, ‘Citadel of Love’, has been  published by Rupa & Co. She translated The Best stories of Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo for Central Sahitya Akademi in English, 2022.

She has ten books in translation from Assamese into Odia, winning both central sahitya akademi and Odisha Sahitya Akademi awards for her outstanding contributions. Her ‘Assamara Shrestha Galpa‘ is a major contribution of translation from Assamese language.

She has read her poems at Festival of India at Brazil, international poetry festival of Kritya, and Raza Foundation national poets meet at Delhi. She has contributed enormously writing about forests, culture of Odisha.she has received senior fellowship for research in culture.

She has written 24 books, and many articles in national newspapers and magazines. Mona Lisa Jena’s works have a wide readership with translations in Assamese, Hindi, English and Italian.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 2.20 PM
Odia Darpan - Mona Lisa Jena, Paramita Satpathy, Gayatribala Panda in conversation with Sakti Mohanty (Odia Session)

Panchami Manoo Ukil

Panchami Manoo Ukil is a Bhubaneswar-based birdwatcher and bird-photographer who pioneered community birdwatching in Odisha in 2012 with her group The Bhubaneswar Bird Walks (TBBW). She writes regularly for several magazines and journals including Sanctuary Asia and Indian Birds. She was featured in Discovery Channels’s programme on Odisha. She was the only woman from Odisha to be featured in Sanctuary Asia’s special edition on “Women in our Wilds”. She works with school children through awareness camps and bird walks in order to foster love for outdoors in young minds so that they move away from cooped-up lifestyles dictated by hypnosis of gadgetry. She feels that mothers are best placed to create a new generation of “earth warriors” by gently inculcating environment-friendly practices as a way of life. She believes that it is necessary to familiarize citizens with the natural world in order to create awareness of constantly depleting natural resources, and the importance of adopting “green practices” to aid in conservation of what remains with us today.

Panchami is the granddaughter of eminent Odia poetess Nirmala Devi. She recently published all the works of Nirmala Devi under the title “Nirmala Devi Kabita Samagra” which is edited by writer and poet Ratnamala Swain. She is now translating Nirmala Devi’s poems into English. Panchami is Executive Trustee of The Wisdom Tree Global School, Bhubaneswar and Chairperson of Ila Panda Centre for Arts.

Attending Sessions

February 3, 2023 ● 7.10 PM
Curtain Call - Resurgence of Odia Theatre: Tanaya Patnaik and Sofia Alam in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil

February 4, 2023 ● 11 AM
The Divine Whirl - Lessons in Syncretism from Sri Chaitanya and Sufi Saints - Chitrita Banerji and Moin Mir in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil

Pankaj Kapur

Pankaj Kapur is an Indian actor who is known for his significant roles as Inspector P.K. in Raakh, Abba ji in Maqbool and he became a household name with his role in the millennium show Office Office. He has received a Filmfare award and 3 National Film Awards for his performances.

Attending Sessions

February 4, 2023 ● 5.40 PM
Acting the Text - Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak Kapur on playing literary characters, and a lifetime of acting. In conversation with Subrat Beura

February 5, 2023 ● 7 PM
Dopehari - A solo-act written and enacted by Pankaj Kapur, Produced by Supriya Pathak Kapur

Paramita Satpathy

Paramita Satpathy is an influential voice in Odia Literature. She is a renowned literary critic, and has also translated a number of famous works of English literature including the like of Pearl S. Buck into Odia . Her stories have been translated into Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati. She has translated many of her books into Hindi herself. She won the Sahitya Academy award for her poetry collection Tanmaya Dhuli in 2001. Satpathy did her Masters in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1989 and is currently working in Bhubaneswar.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 2.20 PM
Odia Darpan - Mona Lisa Jena, Paramita Satpathy, Gayatribala Panda in conversation with Sakti Mohanty (Odia Session)

Paresh Patnaik

Sri Paresh Kumar Patnaik, a fictionist and novelist writing in Odia, is well-known for his extra-ordinary style of writing short stories for the last threedecades. A recipient of Odisha Sahitya Academy award, Patnaik has carved a niche for himself with the craft of his story telling. His novels and stories highlight social issues with unique style of humour and compassion. He is a strong voice against religious fanatism and superstitions, while his stories on mythology show new interpretation of characters. He has twenty two story collections and three novels to his credit.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
The Universe of Jagadish Mohanty - Himansu Mohapatra, Sarojini Sahoo and Paresh Patnaik discuss the pathbreaking contributions of the stalwart. Release of Mohanty’s Battles of Our Own (Nija Nija Panipatha) translated by Himansu Mohapatra and Paul St-Pierre (Odia Session)

Parthiv Dhar

Parthiv Dhar researches on Subhas Chandra Bose when he is not listening to Kishor Kumar, and plans on bringing out the truth about Bose’s real contribution in India’s fight for Independence. His biggest professional achievement is his inspiring leadership in ensuring uninterrupted supply of LPG to households in Assam during the 1st phase of COVID 19. His 1st book – Kishore Kumar – The Ultimate Biography is read widely around India and was written in partnership with his close friend Anirudha Bhattacharjee.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 11.50 AM
Yeh Shaam Mastani - The Magic of Kishore Kumar - Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Parthiv Dhar discuss their biography of Kishore Kumar. In conversation with Balaji Vittal

Pratiti Ganatra

Attending Session

February 3, 2023 ● 5.30 PM
Lost Fragrance of Infinity - Moin Mir in conversation with Pratiti Ganatra

Ratikant Satpathy

Ratikant Satpathy is an Odia playback singer and music director. His career began as a playback singer and then he started composing and directing songs for Odia cinema. He was awarded the best male playback singer in 2008 by Odisha State Film Awards for the film Bhagya Chakra. Ratikant was the assistant vice-president and then became the vice-president at Odisha TV. 

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 4 PM
Bapa to Pratikshya - Gourahari Das and Anupam Patnaik trace the film’s journey from page to screen.  In conversation with Ratikanta Satapathy (Odia Session)

Richard Blurton

Richard Blurton is a trained archaeologist who specializes in South Asian art, excavating in North Africa, Afghanistan and Southern India. He is the former Assistant Keeper at the British Museum. In 2012, he was awarded the Brayton Wilbur Jr. Memorial Fellowship in Asian Art.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 11.30 AM
Discovering India Through The Arts - Richard Blurton discusses his new book with Jatindra Nayak

Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Roshni is editor-in-chief of enthucutlet, a bimonthly food magazine that tells unusual stories about food in India (and sometimes beyond), and has been conceptualized by Hunger Inc. Hospitality which is responsible for The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro and Bombay Sweet Shop.  enthucutlet aspires to tell fun, unusual, heart-warming, and surprising stories in the vast realm of food in India. Organized into seasons like your favourite Netflix show, each edition of enthucutlet delves into an idea that is thought provoking and is at the centre of all the features in it. These are contributed by a diverse set of writers ranging from economists, to neuroscientists, to food experts and everyone in between. Roshni is a culinary graduate from the erstwhile International Culinary Centre, NYC. She lives in Mumbai and has been writing about food, travel, and design since 2005. She was a contributing editor at Vogue magazine and her words have been found in Conde Nast Traveller, Mint Lounge, Scroll.in, The Hindu, The Guardian, and Travel + Leisure, among others.  She was also a features writer at Sunday Mid-Day, the food and lifestyle editor at Time Out Magazine, a restaurant critic at Hindustan Times and the food columnist at (the erstwhile) Mumbai Boss, and The Daily Pao. She’s crazy about obscure ingredients, and she always knows where to go back for seconds. 

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 12.20 PM
Feasting India - Chitrita Banerji in conversation with Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Sakti Mohanty

Loved for his poems with rich metaphors and similes, Dr. Sakti Mohanty , a poet, author & a Physics enthusiast, has his own inimitable ways of seeing things. Time, instincts, and relationships are the main ingredients of true joys in his literary recipes. Often called as  an “Urban Poet” among the literary circuits, Dr. Mohanty adds to his journey, a few screen presences as well. With much regional and national recognition, he is a popular speaker and panelist in many PAN Indian literary festivals. He has five poetry collections, two novellas and one short story collection to his credit. With a journey as a translator, he has translated a few contemporary Indian poets and a couple of plays into Odia as well.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 2.20 PM
Odia Darpan - Mona Lisa Jena, Paramita Satpathy, Gayatribala Panda in conversation with Sakti Mohanty (Odia Session)

Sampad Patnaik

Sampad Patnaik is a freelance journalist and columnist, who last served as Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has also worked as a business journalist with Reuters. Sampad studied politics and history at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Attending Session

February 3, 2023 ● 4.30 PM
Climate Chaos - Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Sampad Patnaik

Sampurna Chattarji

Sampurna Chattarji is a poet, novelist and translator with fourteen books to her credit. Born in Ethiopia in November 1970, Sampurna grew up in Darjeeling, graduated from New Delhi, and is now based in Mumbai/Thane. Her debut poetry collection, Sight May Strike You Blind, published by the Sahitya Akademi (Indian Academy of Letters) in 2007 was reprinted in 2008.  Sampurna’s poetry has appeared in Indian and international journals such as The Little Magazine, New Quest, Chandrabhaga, Indian Literature (India); Stand Magazine, Wasafiri (UK); Drunken Boat, The Literary Review (USA); Wespennest (Germany), Interlitq (Argentina), Carapace (South Africa) and has been anthologized in 60 Indian Poets (Penguin); Both Sides of The Sky (NBT); We Speak in Changing Languages (Sahitya Akademi), and many more.

Her 2004 translation of Sukumar Ray’s poetry and prose Abol Tabol: The Nonsense World of Sukumar Ray was reissued in 2008 as a Puffin Classic titled Wordygurdyboom! She has also authored several books for young people, including The Fried Frog and Other Funny Freaky Foodie Feisty Poems (Scholastic 2009) which has gone into several reprints. Her first novel, Rupture, was published by HarperCollins in 2009 and her second poetry book, Absent Muses, by Poetrywala in 2010. Her second novel, Land of the Well, was published in 2012 by HarperCollins. Dirty Love (Penguin, 2013), is her collection of short stories about Bombay/Mumbai; and Selected Poems (Harper Perennial, 2014) her translation of the Bengali poet Joy Goswami, which was shortlisted for the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry. Sampurna was the 2012 Charles Wallace writer-in-residence at the University of Kent, Canterbury , where she wrote the book-length sequence of poems, Space Gulliver: Chronicles of an Alien (HarperCollins, 2015). She has been part of many international poetry translation workshops, with poets from Switzerland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Malta, Galicia, Slovenia, Estonia, Portugal, the Netherlands, and has had her poetry translated into all these languages, as well as Arabic, Tamil, Manipuri, Kannada and Bambaiyya. Sampurna is currently the Poetry Editor of The Indian Quarterly.

Attending Session

Sarojini Sahoo

Born in the small town of Dhenkanal in Odisha (India), Sahoo earned her MA and PhD degrees in Odia Literature and a Bachelor of Law from Utkal University. She now teaches at a degree college in Belpahar, Jharsuguda, Odisha. She is an Indian feminist writer, a columnist in The New Indian Express and an associate editor of Chennai-based English magazine Indian AGE. 

Her novel Gambhiri Ghara proved to be a bestseller in Odia literature. Her novels have gained a reputation for their feminist outlook and sexual frankness and have been translated into English and published from India under the title The Dark Abode (2008). Another novel Pakhibas has been translated into Bengali and published from Bangladesh under the same title in 2009. This novel has been translated into Hindi by Dinesh Kumar Mali and was published with the same title in 2010.

She has been enlisted among 25 Exceptional Women of India by Kindle Magazine of Kolkata and is an Odisha Sahitya Academy Award winner.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
The Universe of Jagadish Mohanty - Himansu Mohapatra, Sarojini Sahoo and Paresh Patnaik discuss the pathbreaking contributions of the stalwart. Release of Mohanty’s Battles of Our Own (Nija Nija Panipatha) translated by Himansu Mohapatra and Paul St-Pierre (Odia Session)

Sashmi Nayak

Sashmi Nayak is the Ambedkar Chair Professor instituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. She coordinates the Ph.D. Course Work in Social Work for the Utkal University and teaches Social Research Methodology. Her specific area of interest concentrates on anti-oppressive Social Work interventions and focuses on Social Inclusion and Exclusion. Her current research examines issues concerning Manual Scavenging, Begging, Migration, Trafficking, Forced and Bonded Labour. Her present study is supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi and the National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi.

Attending Sessions

February 5, 2023 ● 1.10 PM
The Anglo-Indians - Barry O’Brien in conversation with Sashmi Nayak

February 5, 2023 ● 3.10 PM
Balancing a Life - Bachi Karkaria, Jatindra Nayak and Khushwant Singh on whether a biography can be objective. In conversation with Sashmi Nayak

Shujaat Khan

In his country he is considered a national treasure, a musical legend. Shujaat Husain Khan is one of the greatest North Indian classical musicians of his generation. He belongs to the Imdad Khan gharana of the sitar and his style of playing sitar, known as the gayaki ang, is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice.

Shujaat has performed at all of the prestigious music festivals in India and has toured extensively throughout the world. Captivating audiences with his unique style of sitar play, his exceptional voice, and his intuitive and spontaneous approach to rhythm.  

In 1999, Khan performed as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and in 2007, he was the featured artist at musical concerts celebrating India’s 50th anniversary of independence at Carnegie Hall in New York, Paramount Theatre in Seattle, and Meyers Symphony Theater in Dallas.

Khan was also the sole artist representing India in a special performance at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in Geneva commemorating India’s independence the same year.

In 2010, he worked with Asha Bhosle- a legend in her own right- resulting in the release of ‘Naina Lagai Ke’. The two performed at sell out concerts at The Royal Festival Hall in London, and at concerts in Birmingham and Leicester. Their album was selected as a “Top Ten Best New Album Release” by the editor of Songlines Magazine and was featured in the magazine’s exclusive “Top of the World CD” in 2011.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 7 PM
Classical Sitar Recital - by Ustaad Shujaat Khan

Sofia Alam

Sofia Alam is a renowned theatre and film actress from Odisha. Some of the well known Odia films that she has worked in are Aseema: Beyond Boundaries, Aashiqui and Suna Chadhei Mo Rupa Chadhei.

Attending Session

February 3, 2023 ● 7.10 PM
Curtain Call - Resurgence of Odia Theatre: Tanaya Patnaik and Sofia Alam in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil

Sreema Satapathy

Sreema Satapathy is a reporter by profession. She is currently working at Kanak News, Odisha. Her poetry is based on love and revolution and talks about women empowerment and equality. She writes to change the stereotypes that grip our society.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 2.15 PM
Bhubaneswar’s Young Poets - Sujit Kumar Satapathy, Sreema Satapathy, Nikhilesh Mishra, Swagatika Mishra (Odia Session)

Sujit Kumar Satapathy

Sujit Kumar Satapathy, who hails from Balangir (Odisha), is a science Teacher under govt of Odisha. He is a bilingual poet, writing both in Odia and Koshli language. To his credit he has four published poetry anthologies in odia and a single poetry anthology in Koshli language. Also he has a book of criticism work. His first odia poetry anthology  Ichchhavati was selected and published by Sahitya Akademi under navodaya scheme 2015 Also recenly his first Koshli poetry anthology Nuraa also published by Sahitya Akademi New Delhi.  He has already shared creative space in Mulakat and Yuva Sahiti  program of Kendra Sahitya Academy.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 2.15 PM
Bhubaneswar’s Young Poets - Sujit Kumar Satapathy, Sreema Satapathy, Nikhilesh Mishra, Swagatika Mishra (Odia Session)

Sumanyu Satpathy

Sumanyu Satpathy is professor of English at the University of Delhi, India and is its current chairman. He has numerous Indian and international publications, including original and translated material, and research articles and books in English and Oriya. Among his significant books are: The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense (Penguin India, 2007), Reading Literary Culture: Perspectives on Orissa (Rawat, 2009), and Southern Postcolonialisms: The Global South and the ‘New’ Literary Representations, ed. (Routledge India, 2009). He has lectured at institutions in England, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Nepal.

Attending Session

February 5, 2023 ● 4 PM
The Utter Magic of Utter Nonsense - Sumanyu Satpathy in conversation

Supriya Pathak Kapur

Supriya Pathak is famously known for her role of Hansa Parekh in the comedy franchise – Khichdi, gaining her the Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Comic Role, and Dhankor Baa in the Bhansali movie Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. She has received 2 Filmfare awards and was a compelling performing artist throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

  
Her debut in 1981 Kalyug, won her the first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Attending Sessions

February 4, 2023 ● 5.40 PM
Acting the Text - Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak Kapur on playing literary characters, and a lifetime of acting. In conversation with Subrat Beura

February 5, 2023 ● 7 PM
Dopehari - A solo-act written and enacted by Pankaj Kapur, Produced by Supriya Pathak Kapur

Swagatika Mishra

Swagatika Mishra has an M.A in Education and is interested in writing both story and poetry. Her first poem Punnachheda was published in Samaj Saaptahik. She has received the Srujanjhar award in 2019 and the Katha Naba Pratibha (Sambad) award in 2021.

Attending Session

February 4, 2023 ● 2.15 PM
Bhubaneswar’s Young Poets - Sujit Kumar Satapathy, Sreema Satapathy, Nikhilesh Mishra, Swagatika Mishra (Odia Session)

Tanaya Patnaik

Executive Director Kanak News and Radio Choklate 104 FM at Eastern Media Limited. She studied management from Warwick Business School and is passionate about new media, food and travel. 

Attending Session

February 3, 2023 ● 7.10 PM
Curtain Call - Resurgence of Odia Theatre: Tanaya Patnaik and Sofia Alam in conversation with Panchami Manoo Ukil