From 17th to 20th November, 2016, over 130 celebrated writers and thinkers from 30 countries will converge at Mumbai’s international literary festival, ‘Tata Literature Live! – The Mumbai LitFest’. Held simultaneously at Mumbai’s top two cultural venues – the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA, Nariman Point) and Prithvi Theatre (Juhu), the fest will feature greats including Frank Moorhouse, Ma Thida, Sanjaya Baru, P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Girish Karnad, Anuvab Pal, Keki Daruwalla, Kiran Nagarkar and Jayant Narlikar, in addition to lyricist and poet, Gulzar, and the film director and producer, Karan Johar.

This year’s schedule presents performances including White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, an audacious theatrical experiment where actor and audience discover the script together. The Hindi edition of this play premieres at the festival. Also, a one-woman performance, Poetic License, by Erika Batdorf from Canada; The Ballads of Bant Singh with Nirupama Dutt; and Women on Record by Vidya Shah. Workshops this year, curated for adults and children, will feature international writers and poets undertaking sessions on fiction, theatre and poetry.

Since its inception The Mumbai LitFest has instituted awards to honour achievements by Indian writers, both emerging and accomplished. Seven awards will be presented to celebrate works including First Book Awards; Book of the Year Awards (Fiction and Non-Fiction); Business Book Award; Poet Laureate Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, three new awards recognising excellence in ‘Literature-For-Children’ Category and playwriting have been instituted. Entry is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. Sponsored by the Tata group, the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest is conceived by Founder and Festival Director, Anil Dharker.