18 - 21 Nov, 2021

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 WELCOME
Just when we thought 2021 would be a better year than
2020, Literature Live! took some hard punches, as our
beloved founder Anil Dharker and executive director
Shashi Baliga passed away. And so again, the question
that Anil raised in this very space, last year, came up –
‘Will We? Won’t We’…have a festival this year? But how
could we abandon 11 years of such a wonderful festival?
Our resolve only strengthened, and here we are with the
12th edition of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest.
This year too we’re a digital festival. Much as we all miss
the bonhomie of a physical festival, we’ve learnt to
appreciate the digital space. We realised its phenomenal
reach when we touched 4 million views at our festival
last year.
Keeping in mind online fatigue that’s crept in from
another year of lockdown, we’ve kept the festival to four
days of a tightly packed, exciting schedule that will have
you whizzing from one window to another.
There are 70 sessions to choose from. Take your pick,
from straight talks by Steven Pinker, Thomas
Homer-Dixon, Vidya Dehejia, or watch them all. Or log in
to sessions that talk about hope for humankind with
Rutger Bregman, or the writer’s conscience with Amitav
Ghosh, or a dazzling presentation of Dante’s visions of
heaven by Martin Kemp. There’s a rich choice of
sessions additionally, between business, poetry,
economics and the environment.
There’s an illustrious mix of Booker prize winning authors
like Salman Rushdie, Marlon James, Anne Enright and
Kiran Desai, best-selling authors like Matt Haig and
Heather Morris; Nick Hornby whose books refuse to leave
the charts for years together. In addition, there are
cutting edge performances and workshops and campus
programmes.
There is all of this and so much more to discover from the
18th to 21st November. Join us. We look forward to
having you with us for yet another scintillating festival.

Amy Fernandes
Festival Director
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest
 HOW TO ATTEND
Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest will be an all
virtual festival this year, with participants from around
the globe. While the format is adapted to our times, the
experience is the same – great conversations, discussions
and performances with a spotlight on literature.

Festival access is easier than ever before. All our sessions

will be streamed live on the following platforms:

Website - www.tatalitlive.in
YouTube Channel - TataLiteratureLive
Facebook Page - TataLitLive
Twitter Channel - @TataLitLive
Instagram Channel - @TataLitLive

The festival is FREE to attend and registration is not

mandatory.

However, registered users get the following benefits:

1. Create your own schedule with events you are

interested in.
2. Add events to your Google calendar.
3. Leave comments on sessions and participate in our
special events.
4. Get exclusive access to behind the scenes and
special events.
5. Avail of benefits from our sponsors, such as discount
codes on books, etc.

So head to www.tatalitlive.in and register now! Or join us

on a digital platform of your choice to be a part of Tata
Literature Live! 2021.
TATA LITERATURE LIVE! AWARDS 2021
Tata Literature Live! Tata Literature Live!
Lifetime Achievement Award Poet Laureate

Anita Desai Adil Jussawalla

19 November 2021 20 November 2021
07:15 pm - 08:00 pm 07:15 pm - 08:15 pm

AWARDS 2021 Shortlist (in alphabetical order)

TATA LITERATURE LIVE! FIRST BOOK AWARD

FICTION:
• A Bit of Everything
by Sandeep Raina
(Westland)
• A Death in Shonagachhi
by Rijula Das
(Pan MacMillan)
• Gods and Ends
by Lindsay Pereira
(Penguin Random House)

NON-FICTION:
• Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health: The Human
Cost of Air Pollution and How You Can Be the Change
by Jyoti Pande Lavakare
(Hachette)
• It’s All In Your Head, M
by Manjiri Indurkar
(Westland)
•Landscapes of Loss: The Story of an Indian Drought
by Kavitha Iyer
(HarperCollins)
TATA LITERATURE LIVE! AWARDS 2021

TATA LITERATURE LIVE! BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

FICTION:
• Asoca: A Sutra
by Irwin Allan Sealy
(Penguin Random House)
• China Room
by Sunjeev Sahota
(Penguin Random House)
• Names of the Women
by Jeet Thayil
(Penguin Random House)

NON-FICTION:
• Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India
by Ghazala Wahab
(Aleph)
• The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror
of Life on the Move
by Sonia Shah
(Bloomsbury)
• Undercover: My Journey into the Darkness of Hindutva
by Ashish Khetan
(Westland)

TATA LITERATURE LIVE! THE BUSINESS BOOK

OF THE YEAR AWARD

• Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a

Carbon-Constrained World
by Sumant Sinha
(HarperCollins)
• Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy
by Tamal Bandyopadhyay
(Roli Books)
• Spring: Bouncing Back From Rejection
by Ambi Parameswaran
(Westland)
 Watch it Live on:
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THE LITTLE /TataLitLive

TataLitLive.in # TataLitLive
FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER

18
THURSDAY

10:30 am - 30 mins WORKSHOP

WRITE IS RIGHT
11:00 am - 60 mins
Why stories are important
For ages: 8 - 13 BOO!
Ruskin Bond in conversation Writing ghost stories
with Veer Sharma For ages: 10 - 13
A workshop by Shabnam Minwalla
11:00 am - 30 mins

POETRY BUFFET PERFORMANCE

Verses about food
For ages: 7 - 9 02:00 pm - 45 mins
Katie Bagli & Medha Rajadhyaksha
THE STRONG ONE
11:30 am - 30 mins Growing up in a small
village in England
ALL ABOARD! For ages: 12+
A journey to the mysterious A musical theatre performance by
libraries of the past Matthew Sharp
For ages: 9 - 13
Anuradha Jagalur, Shruthi Rao
Chair: Avni Arlekar
12:00 pm - 30 mins

SNIFFING OUT STORIES

Storytelling with songs and drama
For ages: 7 - 9
Janaki Sabesh and Shobha Viswanath
 Watch it Live on:
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THE LITTLE /TataLitLive

TataLitLive.in # TataLitLive
FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER

19
FRIDAY

10:30 am - 30 mins WORKSHOP

THE KING OF THE CANVAS
11:00 am - 60 mins
Stories of painter Raja Ravi Varma
For ages: 8 - 10 ILLUSTRATING THE OLD
Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan FASHIONED WAY
11:00 am - 30 mins Making art from things at home
For ages: 9 - 11
143 STOREY TREE HOUSE A workshop by Gregg Dreise
Funny stories from the forest
For ages: 7 - 10 PERFORMANCE
Andy Griffiths
02:00 pm - 45 mins
11:30 am - 30 mins
KALYAKOORL, NGALAK
BESURA WARANGKA
The story of two very out-of-tune
musicians
(FOREVER, WE SING)
A performance by First Nations
For ages: 7 - 10
Australians
Tilottama Shome
For all ages
12:00 pm - 30 mins Gina Williams
& Guy Ghouse
TELLING TALL TALES
Why writing for children is more fun
For ages: 11 - 13
Matt Haig in conversation
with Shabnam Minwalla
 NOVEMBER

18
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/TataLitLive
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THURSDAY

09:00 am - 45 mins

A LIFE IN THEATRE
Stories from growing up
around the stage
A straight talk by Feisal Alkazi

09:45 am - 45 mins 06:00 pm - 30 mins

THE FANGS OF THE COBRA PATRI(AN)ARCHY

Investigative journalism in India Surviving men
A straight talk by Aniruddha Bahal Amy K. Blakemore, Christina
Sweeney-Baird
05:00 pm - 60 mins Chair: Peter Griffin

FOR THE LOVE OF THE WORD - 06:30 pm - 45 mins

The Anil Dharker Session:
TREE'S COMPANY
INAUGURATION OF TATA
Planting a green thought
LITERATURE LIVE! 2021 Jonathan Drori, Pradip Krishen
Followed by Chair: Suprabha Seshan
THE WRITER'S CONSCIENCE
Amitav Ghosh in conversation
with Hrishi K

Art &
Entertainment
Literary
Business &
Political &
Economy
Current Affairs
Environment
Social
Health & Sciences
Fitness
Sports
History
 NOVEMBER

18
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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THURSDAY

07:15 pm - 90 mins

Debate:
COLLEGE STUDENTS SHOULD
NOT PARTICIPATE IN
POLITICAL PROTESTS
For The Motion: Hindol Sengupta, Shubhrastha
Against The Motion: Abhinav Chandrachud,
Gurmehar Kaur
Chair: Raghav Bahl

08:45 pm - 45 mins

ACTIVITY REPORT
Debunking myths and misconceptions
about exercise
Daniel Lieberman in conversation
with Antoine Lewis

09:00 pm - 45 mins PERFORMANCE

CELEBRATING WOMEN: The
Shashi Baliga Memorial Session
INDEFATIGABLE
A portrait of the writer as a feminist icon
Rebecca Solnit in conversation
with Menaka Guruswamy
06:00 pm - 75 mins
LOVE YOU (Marathi)
A scenic reading of a translation of
Kristo Sagor's German play Ich Lieb
Dich, followed by a panel discussion
Directed by Sapan Saran
 NOVEMBER

19
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FRIDAY

12:30 pm - 45 mins

VERSES FROM WITHIN

Three poets recite their work
Ali Abdollahi, Sabika Abbas Naqvi,
Vasantha Surya

01:15 pm - 45 mins 05:45 pm - 45 mins

MORE THAN WORDS MINE EYES DAZZLE

How I became a writer Dante and the art of divine light in
A straight talk by Peter Stamm Renaissance and Baroque
A straight talk by Martin Kemp
05:00 pm - 45 mins
06:30 pm - 45 mins
TURNING THE PAGE
What's next for Indian fiction? THE ILLUSIONIST
Amish and Ashwin Sanghi in Blurring the lines between reality
conversation and imagination
Salman Rushdie in conversation
with Salil Tripathi

Art &
Entertainment
Literary
Business &
Political &
Economy
Current Affairs
Environment
Social
Health & Sciences
Fitness
Sports
History
 NOVEMBER

19
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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FRIDAY

07:15 pm - 45 mins

TATA LITERATURE LIVE! 2021

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
AWARD
Presentation to Anita Desai
followed by a conversation
with Kiran Desai

08:00 pm - 45 mins

PERFORMANCE
WHAT IT TAKES TO GIVE
Building corporate social equity
Harsh Mariwala, Peter Casey
Chair: Mini Menon

08:45 pm - 30 mins PERFORMANCE

POEE AND PAO
An insider’s view of two Catholic
neighbourhoods in Mumbai
Jane Borges, Lindsay Pereira
Chair: Malishka Mendonsa
08:00 pm - 90 mins
THE LAST POET (Hindi)
A poet disappears abruptly,
leaving his world haunted
A genre-bending interactive
performance directed by
Amitesh Grover
 NOVEMBER

20
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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SATURDAY

10:30 am - 45 mins 02:00 pm - 30 mins

WE SHALL OVERCOME MYSTERIES UNRAVELLED

Commanding Hope to renew the world
A straight talk by Thomas Homer-Dixon
11:15 am - 45 mins
CHEQUES & BALANCES
Examining India's banking industry
Tamal Bandyopadhyay in conversation
with Shinjini Kumar
12:00 pm - 45 mins
SURVIVAL OF THE FRIENDLIEST
Are people innately kind and
cooperative?
Rutger Bregman in conversation
with George Jose
12:45 pm - 45 mins
The gripping world of crime fiction
Gauri Sinh, Novoneel Chakraborty
Chair: Tanushree Podder
02:30 pm - 45 mins
HOPE FLOATS
Capturing grace and beauty in
stories of courage
Graeme C Simsion, Heather Morris
Chair: Nandita Bose
03:15 pm - 30 mins
TIES THAT BIND
Family dynamics of love and loss
Anne Enright in conversation
with Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

TIMES OF TROUBLE
What it means to be an Indian
Muslim today Art &
Ghazala Wahab in conversation Entertainment
Literary
with Sandip Roy Business &
Political &
Economy
Current Affairs
Environment
Social
Health & Sciences
Fitness
Sports
History
 NOVEMBER

20
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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SATURDAY

03:45 pm - 30 mins 07:15 pm - 60 mins

THE LITERATURE OF REALITY TATA LITERATURE LIVE! 2021

Diving deeper into what really happened POET LAUREATE
through literary non-fiction Presentation to Adil Jussawalla,
Sonia Faleiro in conversation followed by a reading of specially
with Sumana Ramanan composed tribute poems, and a
conversation between the
04:15 pm - 60 mins Poet Laureate and
Arundhathi Subramaniam
BOOK IN FOCUS
Ravan & Eddie 08:15 pm - 45 mins
Abodh Aras, Karthika VK,
Kunal Vijayakar, Sooni Taraporewala SOLID TREASURE
Chair: Hrishi K A history of India in a 100 Objects
A straight talk by Vidya Dehejia
05:15 pm - 45 mins
08:15 pm - 30 mins
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
From Marathi to English PAISA VASOOL
Jerry Pinto, Keerti Ramachandra The hidden economics of
Chair: Jayashree Hari Joshi everyday decisions
Sudipta Sarangi in conversation
06:00 pm - 30 mins with Arun M Kumar

REVERSE ORDER 09:00 pm - 45 mins

Making a movie into a book
Devashish Makhija in conversation UN-COMMON SENSE
with Vikram Oza Why does rationality seem so scarce?
A straight talk by Steven Pinker
06:30 pm - 45 mins
09:00 pm - 30 mins
MILLENNIAL MINDS
Gen Y’s struggles to find fulfilling TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH
work and love A multi-generational
Hilary Leichter, Vivan Marwaha family saga from Vietnam
Chair: Aparna Piramal Raje Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
in conversation with Supriya Nair
 NOVEMBER

20
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/TataLiteratureLive
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SATURDAY

WORKSHOPS
01:00 pm - 90 mins 03:30 pm - 90 mins

CONCEPTUAL POETRY THE CHILDREN'S BOOK:

A new genre that uses the internet and (W)RITE TO READ
technology as visual poetics The craft of writing and creating
A workshop by Lior Zalmanson fascinating tales for children
A workshop by Patricia Forde

PERFORMANCE
08:00 pm - 90 mins

THE LAST POET (English)

A poet disappears abruptly,
leaving his world haunted
A genre-bending interactive performance
directed by Amitesh Grover
 NOVEMBER

21
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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SUNDAY

10:30 am - 45 mins

THE CLEAR VOICE OF POETRY

Drawing a poetic roadmap
toward redemption
Ranjit Hoskote in conversation with
Mustansir Dalvi 12:45 pm - 45 mins
11:15 am - 45 mins A SUTRA-DHAR SPEAKS
The joys of writing historical fiction
REELING 'EM IN Irwin Allan Sealy in conversation
How to keep your audience hooked with Rashmi Palkhivala
Matthew Weiner, Varun Grover
Chair: Gayatri Rangachari Shah
02:00 pm - 45 mins
12:00 pm - 45 mins
THE THRILL OF THE CHASE
Suspense du jour
PERCHANCE TO DREAM
David Baldacci in conversation with
How a generation of women
Ravi Subramanian
fought their battles
Dolly Thakore, Neena Gupta
Chair: Arghya Lahiri 02:00 pm - 45 mins

WORDS OF INSPIRATION
Books that made me a writer
Manjiri Indurkar, Meera Rajagopalan,
Art & Sandeep Raina
Entertainment Chair: Rupangi Sharma
Literary
Business &
Political &
Economy 02:45 pm - 45 mins
Current Affairs
Environment
Social ONE STEP AHEAD
Health & Sciences
The launch of the graphic novel on
Fitness
Sports Lady Meherbai Tata, followed by a
History panel discussion with women in
leadership roles
Apurva Purohit, Ruchira Chaudhary
Chair: Ambi Parameswaran
 NOVEMBER

21
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/TataLiteratureLive
/TataLitLive
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SUNDAY

03:30 pm - 45 mins 06:30 pm - 30 mins

ABOUT AN AUTHOR WIDE ANGLE

The funny thing about truth A new generation of Indian American
Nick Hornby in conversation novelists is opening fresh vistas
with Anuvab Pal Karan Mahajan, Sanjena Sathian
Chair: Sonal Shah
04:15 pm - 45 mins
07:15 pm - 45 mins
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
Five reputable Marathi poets CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN
recite their poems Conquering the corporate summit
Hemant Divate, Kalpana Dudhal, Indra Nooyi in conversation
Manya Joshi, Pradnya Daya Pawar, with Yogita Limaye
Prafull Shiledar
07:15 pm - 45 mins
05:00 pm - 45 mins
GENRE FLUID
SCRIPTURIENT! Literary conventions be damned
The launch of Pride, Prejudice, & Marlon James in conversation
Punditry: The Essential Shashi Tharoor with Shalini Puri
followed by Shashi Tharoor in
conversation with Keshava Guha 08:00 pm - 90 mins

05:00 pm - 45 mins TATA LITERATURE LIVE! 2021

AWARDS
UNDER SIEGE IN PARADISE Presentation of literary awards
Growing up in conflict-ridden Kashmir in fiction, non-fiction,
Farah Bashir in conversation and business
with Leela Jacinto categories
05:45 pm - 45 mins

ANALYSE THIS
What ails the Indian psyche?
Ashis Nandy in conversation
with Shiv Visvanathan
 NOVEMBER

21
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SUNDAY

WORKSHOPS
12:30 pm - 90 mins 03:30 pm - 90 mins

WRITING VISUALS DREAMING UP FUTURES

Penning a screenplay Using the work of Stanislaw Lem,
A workshop by Bhavani Iyer learn how philosophy can turn
science fiction into science fact
A workshop by Marek Kądzielski

PERFORMANCE
06:00 pm - 60 mins 07:00 pm - 60 mins

STORIES OF A DISH DANTE BEYOND BORDERS

A man is stuck in lockdown.
He loves food, but can't really cook
A performance by
Himanshu Sitlani from Canada
An Indo-Italian collaboration
to celebrate the poet's
700th birth anniversary
A dance performance
created by Anna Dora Dorno