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Gujarat Literature Festival (GLF)

Introduction
Gujarat Literature Festival (GLF) is an annual calendar event that that takes place in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of India’s western state of Gujarat, in January. GLF is the first and only festival of its kind that espouses literature through its varied forms, with a focus on the regional language of the state it is hosted in – Gujarati. The first festival happened at the Kanoria Centre for Arts in 2014 on January 3, 4 & 5. In 2015, the event took place on January 30, 31 and February 01. Dates of the third consecutive festival in 2016 are January 8, 9, 10. The event is completely free. Pre-registration on website http://gujlitfest.com/ is advised. The first two festivals attracted an audience of over 10,000 over three days. It is mainly attended by students and enthusiasts from all walks of life. GLF is the umbrella event of multiple Gujarati literature events. Traditional and contemporary authors, performers, singers, translators, theatre artists, journalists, bloggers, film directors, actors et al share their knowledge and talent through discussions, debates and audience interactions. Several Non-resident Gujaratis (NRGs) are also known to travel to Gujarat during this time to attend the festival. GLF has been credited for re-igniting the dwindling interest in literature in Gujarat. Gujarati language literature dominated the first festival in 2014. In 2015, sessions in Urdu, English, Bengali and Hindi took place. In 2016 GLF promises in bring in more regional languages and further more diversity in its content. GLF is the perfect stage for young artists and authors to get noticed and launch a career in literature.

Concept
Gujarati is spoken by around 65.5 million people worldwide. It is the 26th most spoken native language in the world. The language has had a very interesting history. A descendent of Sanskrit the ‘old Gujarati’ is believed to have emerged in twelfth century during the reign of King Siddhraj Jaisinh. Over the following centuries, the language we recognize as Gujarati in the 21st century is a far cry from the original script. It has already absorbed influences of Persian (Farsi), Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Portuguese, and lately English. History repeats itself. Though Gujarati continues to be the spoken language, in urban areas English, Hindi and a cocktail ‘Guj-Hind-lish’ are witnessing a steady growth and the pure form of even the spoken language is declining. According to estimates, Gujarati is amongst the languages that generates the least amount of original text. The younger generation’s alienation from Gujarati literature is faster than anyone imagined. Nothing inspires more than a live interaction. GLF is designed as a popular event that gives an average enthusiast an opportunity to interact with writers and literati. Thousands of youngsters today do not have a platform where they can interact, ask questions to litterateurs. It will result in immediate interest in literature, which could over a period of time mature into many beautiful manifestations like the written form, theatre, folk art and perhaps mainstream cinema. In the three-day gathering, different exponents meet, interact, understand and admire the different forms of literature as well as applaud new upcoming talents.

2014
The first edition of the festival was a runaway success. Organised as three parallel sessions for three consecutive days, it focussed completely on Guajarati literature. In fact it was called the Gujarati Literature Festival. Over 150 artists were seen rubbing shoulders with youngsters. Entertainment events in the evening received much appreciation. The team of GLF 2014 coined the term Rock Dayro, which popular Gujarati artist Arvind Vegada went on to perform on various national and international stages. Gujarati author Kajal Oza Vaidya performed her own ‘court martial’ and Bollywood director Anand Gandhi held the audience’s attention by talking about his love and inspiration from literature.

2015
The second year brought more diversity in content by introducing new languages and different forms of performances. Theatre artist Saumya Joshi performed his Rangara for the first time on a public stage in GLF 2015. The play ‘Hu Chandrakant Bakshi’ was performed. Women humourists received a stage where they were appreciated. Performances of Bhavai’s journey from traditional art to modern inspiration and a dedicated performance on the different dialects were well received. Authors Jay Vasavada, Kajal Oza Vaidya and Madhu Rye held workshops in the countdown and during the festival.

2016
The third festival had the theme – Film is new literature. 175 Authors and Writers; Bollywood script-writers, lyricists; dramatists; 70+ discussions and debates, Eight workshops; all of this in five different languages sum up another block buster edition of GLF in January 2016 Workshops for young writers by acclaimed Hindi film industry veterans Anjum Rajabali, [Sriram Raghavan]], Varun Grover and Pan Nalin received great reviews. The festival was attended by over 40,000 visitors over three days Heated debates on the theme subject brought out new perspectives. Exhibition ‘Kanu’s Gandhi’, a collection of exclusive photographs of Gandhiji and a Photo exhibition of Gujarat’s veteran authors added further vigor to the event. Multiple book releases. GLF is emerging as an event of choice for authors to release their books before the right audience.