It's that time of the year again when literary characters jump off the pages of your favourite book and into the National Centre for Performing Arts at Literature Live. Novelist and poet Vikram Seth, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies , Thomas Freidman, TheNew York Times columnist and author of The World is Flat , Mark Tully, and William Dalrymple share the stage at the ongoing (November 3-6) second edition of this literary festival.

Festival Director Anil Dharker says the flavour this season is definitely bigger and better, “We treat literature not as an academic exercise, but as alive. Literature is lively and engages a lot of people — be they serious students of literature or a layperson — anyone interested in words and books will have something to take away from the festival.” Each session, he says, aims to be lively, erudite without being academic, and engage the audience in debates and discussions. Added attractions include book launches, book signings and informal interactions between writers and readers.

Dharker began Literature Live! last year with an investment of Rs 1 crore. The four-day event finally gave Mumbai a place on the Indian map of literary festivals. “Authors such as Salman Rushdie, who put India on the map, started here in the Maximum City. A lot of noted writers are drawn towards the city, as it has something to offer everyone,” he remarks.

For long now, literary events have been perceived as exclusive clubs, with only writers and a known circle of wine-clinking literati participating. But the mood for Literature Live 2011 is upbeat and the tone optimistic. Dharker believes that Mumbai, which is India's most cosmopolitan city, has a tradition of ‘writing' in different languages. “I am trying to develop a broad-based liberal outlook to literature — in a wider sense,” he says. Apart from the four verticals — poetry, plays, fiction and non-fiction, “several sessions will be performance-based”.

Opening with the release of Nihal Singh's Ink in My Veins , the festival's book releases aim to be different, with the authors reading a few lines from their respective books and eventually generating a discussion that has a bearing on the book.

Literature-based performances and dramatisations are the other highlights of the event. For William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal , the author was accompanied by Hindustani vocalist Vidya Shah. British musician-storyteller Matthew Sharp will narrate literary stories to the accompaniment of a cello. Readings from Whale Song , a collection of Sir Andrew Motion's poems, are accompanied by a cello and a bansuri ; Death's Cabaret involves a string quartet playing a new form — a cabaret concerto — while a man tells a raw and exciting story. Ramprahar is based on Vijay Tendulkar's series of articles touching different subjects. “Finally, the whole festival culminates with the physical two-man show from Canada, Spent , about the economic meltdown in 2009,” says Dharker, who will reprise his role as anchor.

The four-day festival covers a lot of ground — both literally and literary — and is ambitious to be Mumbai's answer to the annual Jaipur Literature Festival. The event also sees the release of C.Y. Gopinath's The Book of Answers , David Davidar's Ithaca and Mark Tully's latest, Non-Stop India .

Literature Live! is a non-ticketed event, with free entry on a first-come, first-served basis.

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