Author-politician Shashi Tharoor, author and historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee, and foreign affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor graced the curtain raiser of the 14^th edition of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival.

100 years of Oxford Bookstore is the theme of the festival in 2023.

“I have come to the Oxford Bookstore from a very young age. This was the first stage of my association with this bookstore. In the second phase, I came as a parent and brought my kids to purchase books from the Oxford Bookstore. The third phase is coming here for discussions and book launches. This is a venue I know well. We have done different kinds of discussions here. This is a brand that I care about very much” said Shashi Tharoor.

Speaking about his journey as an author, Shashi Tharoor said “I started with writing short stories and then shifted to campus journalism. But I realized that my writings will end up with the vendors who collected papers for selling. This is when I realized that I needed to write something durable and something that will last for a long time. Hence I poured in all my ideas and beliefs in my first book and thankfully it was a success”.

The Indian Museum in Kolkata will partner with the three-day literary festival which will be held on the museum grounds and also at the Oxford Bookstore.

In the 14^th edition, the speakers will consist of authors, and humanitarians from different fields like history, mythology, food, dance, history, art, culture, and others.

Some of the speakers who will be a part of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival are filmmaker Onir, author Shobhaa De, celebrity chef Shaun Kenworthy, poet Jerry Pinto, author Durjoy Datta, actors Divya Dutta, Arunoday Singh, and others.

The festival will be held from 12^th to 15^th January 2023.

For more details, visit: www.AKLF.in

Video link of the event- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyEApf1hHFM

Priyanka Dutta