Top poets and writers from around the world will head to Kerala this November for the three-day Hay Festival, as the State plays host to its second edition of the British literary event.

The line-up for the event, called ‘Hay Festival Kerala' at Thiruvananthapuram includes what is described as a ‘stellar line-up' of poets, novelists, journalists, film makers and performers from India and across the world. The festival will this year begin on November 17.

The Hay Festival began 24 years ago in Wales and has since built in scale to become the largest festival of ideas in the UK, also running 10 festivals around the world from Mexico and Colombia to Kenya and Beirut.

This will be the second festival in Kerala following an outstanding launch last year, organisers said.

For the second festival in Kerala, Hay, in collaboration with Teamwork Productions, has programmed poets working in languages from around the world — Spanish, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindu, Welsh, Icelandic and English.

The celebration of world languages will culminate in a poetry gala on the Friday evening in the Kanakakunnu Palace, the former retreat of the Travancore royal family with K Satchidanandan, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Arundhati Subramaniam.

The line-up includes Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans and biographer of Chairman Mao; BBC World Anchor, Nik Gowing, chairing a debate about energy production; Oscar-winning film maker, Andrew Ruhemann; author, Anita Nair; award-winning French novelist, Agnes Desarthe; Simon Singh lecturing on cosmology and codes; and writer and academic Germaine Greer speaking about Shakespeare's lovers.

Lyndy Cooke, executive Director of Hay Festivals, said, “This year's programme is a stunning line-up that celebrates the languages of the world and the issues of the day. “As well as revelling in great literature and ideas, we can enjoy the stunning surroundings and great food of Kerala, and renewing good friendships at this second edition of our festival in India.”

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