The annual Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) has secured a
prominent place for itself in the event calendar in Goa. That it is driven
largely by volunteers sans funding from corporate houses and its relatively
smaller size set it apart from the bigger literature festivals in the country.
In its seventh year, the annual festival seeks to expand and improve the record
and to reach exponentially more people with its platform for outstanding
writing, poetry, journalism, art and music. Taking the regional route, GALF
2016 will showcase and highlight writers and poets from a wide range of
regional languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Khasi, Asomiya,
etc. This however does not shift the focus from more prominent languages like
Konkani, Marathi, English and Portuguese.
The festival will be inaugurated on December 8 by Jorge Barreto
Xavier (former Secretary of State for Culture, Portugal) and Sivakami
(acclaimed writer and activist). The official artwork is by eminent modernist,
Laxman Pai. GALF 2016 will honour the reluctant Nobel Prize winner for
Literature, Bob Dylan with a tribute, and to do the honours, the legend from
the North East widely recognised for his Bob Dylan tribute shows, Lou Majaw,
will headline a concert in Dylan’s memory.
GALF 2016 will see a host of eminent writers, journalists, artistes
like Supriya Nair, Keshava Guha, Prof Shafey Kidwai, Girish Kasarvalli, P
Sivakami and the controversial journalist/author Rana Ayyub, rub shoulders with
literature lovers young and old. GALF 2016 will have a special focus for
children, and school and college students. Leading authors for young people
like Samhita Arni, Geeta Dharmarajan, etc will be available in specifically
tailored programmes that will be accessible to young visitors.
GALF 2016 will also serve as a fitting platform for the launch of
two books. Authors of Goan origin, Roanna Gonsalves and Cyprian Fernandes will
come from Australia to exclusively release their new books. There will be
exclusive ‘pop-up’ bookstalls by Tara Books, Oxford University Press, Other India
Bookstore, DogEars and Goa’s own Broadway Books, as well as a range of artworks
from Goa and beyond.
The festival remains free and open to all.
