Dateline Dehradun: Valley of Words|Shabdavali partners with Auroville for the debut edition of the Auroville Literature Festival that will be held in Puducherry on the 25th-27th of August.
Right from its nascent stage, Valley of Words along with Chennai International Centre has helped the organisers curate a world-class literary fest.
VoW Volunteers from esteemed institutes of Dehradun put their best foot forward and helped in every possible way. From curating national and international authors list to working on their resume’s for the brochure, the VoW volunteers have worked relentlessly over the past few months to help put it altogether. Posters were put up at various venues in town to spread the word along with the volunteers reading shortlisted authors and their works which will be open to discussion at the ALF as well.
Close to one dozen VoW volunteers from Dehradun will be making their maiden trip to Auroville during the festival to help out at the Festival Registration Desk, at the Festival Book Stands at the Author Lounge as well.
Home to over sixty nationalities, Auroville has set the stage for its debut Literary festival which will bring together two dozen luminaries from the world of literature, making a distinct mark on the literary landscape. Auroville Literature Festival marks the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo world-renowned spiritual and literary figure. The festival celebrates Sri Aurobindo’s vision of ‘world as one family,’ and celebrate India’s cultural and literary diversity. Further talking about the contribution of Shri Aurobindo, VoW|Shabdavali Festival Director Dr Chopra said, “This festival is also a tribute to Sri Aurobindo, one of the finest writers of English who wrote Savitri, Essays on the Geeta, and gave the world the concept of Integral Vedanta. Although selected for the ICS, he chose to forsake this to devote his life to work for the spiritual and cultural evolution of India, that is Bharat.”
Unfurling over two and a half days, the festival will host seventeen Indian and seven international authors, thinkers, translators and artistes who will spread the magic of words across three venues: Bharat Nivas, Savitri Bhavan and Unity Pavilion. The open-access festival promises to be one-of-its-kind with the landscape dotted with food stalls, craft stores, book stalls along with evenings dedicated to cultural performances by Surya Performance Lab.
