Kerala Literature Festival

The fifth edition was held from 16 to 19 January 2020, at Kozhikode Beach, with the presence of artists, actors, celebrities, writers, thinkers, and activists, discussing literature, art, cinema, culture, dance, music, environment, science, and technology. Cultural nights include fireside chats by acts and performing artists from around the world. Speakers at the previous editions include Arundhati Roy, Richard Stallman, Noam Chomsky (Video), Yuval Noah Harari (Video), Sadhguru, Romila Thapar, Ramachandra Guha, Shashi Tharoor, Rakesh Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Chetan Bhagath, Karan Thapar, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sobhaa De and Sagarika Ghose. In addition to literature, topics include environment and climate change. Spain was the guest nation, and Tamil literature was featured. The festival is open to the public and is non-exclusive and an open platform for discussions and idea exchanges. [7]

The fourth edition of the festival was held from 10 to 13 January 2019, at Kozhikode Beach with 500 + renowned authors, discussions, poetry festival, music, dance, movie screenings and photo exhibitions. Wales was chosen as the guest nation. Set in five tracks- Ezhuthola, Aksharam, Thulika , Vaaku, Vellithira. Kijote Kathakali by Ignacio Garcia, Sufi Rock Outfit Alif featuring Ulrike Almut Sandig, Russian Music & Dance, Concert by L Subramaniam, Steffan Donnely performed a bilingual piece of contemporary theater, Qawwali night by Mystic Sufiana Mehfil were some of the defining moments of KLF 2019. Richard Stallman, Yuval Noah Harrari, Shashi Tharoor ,Satish Aalekar, Keki Daruwala, Chetan Bhagat, Caryl Lewis, Ravinder Singh Jeet Thayil attended the festival.

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The third edition of the festival was held from 8–11 February 2018, at Kozhikode Beach. KLF 2018 was inaugurated by Arundhati Roy, MT Vasudevan Nair and Prakash Raj. The event was supported by the Kerala State Government and the Kerala Tourism Department, and by the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation and the district administration. The Kochi Muziris Biennale was an integral part of the festival. Guest nation for the year was Ireland (represented by Gabriel Rosenstock, Paddy Bushe, Liam Carson, Alan Titley, Amanda Bell, and Conor Kostick). Romila Thapar, Ashis Nandy, Sagarika Ghose, Rajdeep Sardesai, Noam Chomsky, Rishi Kapoor participated.

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The second edition of Kerala Literature Festival held from 2–5 February 2017, at Kozhikode Beach.[10][11]

Noted Malayalam short story writer and novelist Paul Zacharia inaugurated KLF 2017.[12] Highlight of KLF 2017 was the interaction between Sadguru jaggi vasudev, Sashi Kumar and Manju Warrier.[13] Cartoons of O. V. Vijayan were also exhibited in 2017 Kerala Literature Festival.[14] Over 300 writers from across the world took part in KLF 2017.The writers from abroad include South African writer Ari Sitas, and British-Pakistani writer Qaisra Shahraz, Slovene writer Evald Flisar, translator and editor of numerous publications Alexandra Büchler of Literature Across Frontiers, Portuguese translator Bruno Viera Amaral and poet and literary curator Nia Davies from Wales, United Kingdom.The sessions held in four venues titled Ezhuthola, Aksharam, Thulika, and Vellithira.[15][16]

The second edition of the festival introduced a programme for students, 'Student KLF', promoting knowledge, literature, art and culture. The event included open discussions with authors on contemporary topics.[17]

DC Kizhakemuri Foundation first thought of a cultural space for people to interact and come together which was later conceptualized in 2016 as Kerala Literature Festival. At Calicut is a converging place of history, culture and trade. Vasco da Gama, the great Portuguese explorer touched down the Indian subcontinent on the shores of the city. The Freedom Square, permanent venue of KLF was constructed by former MLA M Pradeep Kumar constructed the square. The architect's team, De- Earth led by P.P Vivek and Vinod Cyriac envisioned and designed the Square. The Freedom Square today ranks among the six world's must-see museums and was featured in Architecture Plus Design. [18]

The festival aims to provide a non aligned platform for cultural exchange and promotes free speech and dialogue. It brings writers, thinkers and activists closer, to people of varied backgrounds and interests and empower writers, thinkers to take the liberty to exercise freedom of thought and expression. The first edition witnessed writers and speakers including M T Vasudevan Nair, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anand, Taslima Nasrin, Ashok Vajpeyi, Khadeeja Mumtaz, M.Mukundan, Sarah Joseph, Githa Hariharan, Meena Kandasamy, Pratibha Ray, TD Ramakrishnan, T Padmanabhan, Subhash Chandran, Leena Manimekalai and Girish Kasaravalli, to name a few.[19]