Ending 2022 on a high note the Sixth Edition of the Valley of Words International Literature and Arts Festival travels to Chennai to host its English vertical in partnership with Chennai International Centre.
The event will be held the weekend before Christmas i.e. 17th-18th of December at Rukmani/Arundale auditorium Kalakshetra and CLM, Sishya, OMR School respectively.
Over a dozen authors, reviewers, moderators, translators, panelists and students will join in as we celebrate the written word, down south.
Telling us more about the event, Director Chennai International Centre Dr. C. Chandramouli said, “The Chennai International Centre (CIC) has been conceived with an objective of creating an intellectual hub for the city’s intelligentsia to meet, share, discuss, and evolve transformational ideas. It aspires to be a spa for the mind and soul.” He further added, “The Chennai Literature and Arts Festival in collaboration with the Valley of Words is a maiden attempt. We hope it will blossom into an annual feature in the social calendar of Chennai.”
VoW Director Sanjeev Chopra complimented Dr. Chandramouli of CIC for inviting Ex-Governor of West Bengal Gopal Krishna Gandhi and the former editor of Hindu N Ravi to the inaugural program.
With an interesting line up on day one: celebrating marathon writer TN Murari; followed by an engaging session with Author Peggy Mohan and Thomas on The Language and Commerce of the Empire with AV Paneerselvam. Hem Mahesh and Peer Mohammad Azeem, Prabha Sridevan and TM Yesudasan will discuss the nuances of translation in Saluting the Tradition of Translation session; while Vidya Singh and Pradeep Chakravarti will discuss Kunti and Durgavati: Queens Across Ages the latest from authors Koral Dasgupta and Nandini Sengupta. Dr Sanjeev Chopra’s book We the People of the State of Bharat will be discussed at Maps & Milestones in the Making of Bharat with TS Tirumurti and C Chandramouli.
Day two i.e. 18th of December is dedicated to young minds. Students of Sishya, OMR School and others will join in to host, participate in book reading and enactments based on Pinkoo Shergill: Pastry Chef, Wild and Wilful, Tales from The History of Mathematics and The Making of Heroes Book 1 of the series The Adventures of Zoe and Scruffy books penned by authors Vibha Batra, Neha Sinha, Archana Sarat and Mamathi Chari respectively.
Talking about Valley of Words event in Chennai, Director Dr Sanjeev Chopra said, “VoW is delighted to collaborate with the Chennai International Centre for the English language and Translations vertical on the 17/18 December. The partnership between two not for profits – the VoW Foundation and the CIC augurs well for readers and writers – the purposes of both organisations is to spread the word in all its manifestations.”
