Kolkata Literary Festival set to be held from 21 to 23 Jan. Read here

The 13th edition of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF), curated by Oxford Bookstore, is set to be held from 21-23 January , 2022.

The three-day literary meet is to be held at the iconic heritage building Park Mansions at Park Street.

The event expects to see participation by over 50 authors, poets, screenplay writers, thinkers, sportspersons, journalists and actors.

"The 13th Edition of the AKLF, sets its sights on our fast evolving world, and the changes that lie in store in the years ahead. Curated meticulously to meet the challenges of the hybrid/virtual format, with delegate participation from across three time zones, this acceleration to digital connectivity has not stopped us from moving forward with this key initiative," said Maina Bhagat, director of AKLF since its first edition in 2010.

It will host sessions virtually on the inaugural day and offline on 22 and 23 January, the organisers said at the curtain raiser event in the national capital on Wednesday.

Badminton legend Pullela Gopichand, movie critic Anupama Chopra and French writer Patrick Deville are among the speakers of the festival.

"The festival, packed with thought provoking, entertaining and informative sessions, is a celebration of the written word, in the time of Covid," she said.

AKLF, touted to be India's only literary festival created by a bookstore and Kolkata's first literary festival, aims to reflect the city's vibrancy of thought, its engagement with the literary world at large and explores literature as part of its tangible and intangible heritage.

The event also saw announcement of the longlist of the 'Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize', now in its seventh edition.

The longlist, featuring 21 books ranging across a variety of genres, include Perumal Murugan's novel, "Estuary", designed by Gavin Morris; author Nandini Sengupta's historical fiction, "The Blue Horse", designed by Damini Gupta; Shylashri Shankar's book on Indian cuisine, "Turmeric Nation", designed by Maithili Doshi; Raziuddin Aquil book on Sufism, "Days In The Life of a Sufi", designed by Misha Oberoi, and Robert Elgood book on historic Indian firearms "The Maharaja of Jodhpur's Guns", designed by Shashi Bushan Prasad.

Two Hindi translations, "Chaiwaad" (designed by Sanjukta Roy) and "Garv Se Kaho" (designed by Sanatan Dinda) are also part of the list.

The annual prize, initiated in 2015 to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary work of illustrators, designers, and publishers throughout India, carries a cash prize along with a trophy.

Other books that made it to the list include names like "Ratno Dholi" authored by Jenny Bhatt and designed by Harshad Marathe; Anubha Yadav's "The Anger of Saintly Men", designed by Bhavi Mehta; Manpreet J Singh's "The Sikh Next Door: An Identity in Transition", designed by Mehek Malhotra; Giggling Monkey Studio; "The Illustrated Ramayana", designed by Neha Ahuja.

The 21 books were longlisted by a jury panel consisting of author and columnist Shobhaa De, politician-writer Shashi Tharoor, art historian-curator Alka Pande, along with writer Kunal Basu, and Priti Paul, director of Apeejay Surrendra Group.