Auroville reaches for the stars as it hosts maiden literary festival

Auroville Literature Festival (ALF) celebrates Sri Aurobindo's sesquicentennial & Roger Anger's centenary. It features writers, thinkers, translators, artistes, book launches, art & cultural shows, culinary & exhibition spaces. Topics range from real life to integral yoga, with spotlight sessions on Sri Aurobindo & youth orators. ALF is supported by Ministry of Culture & Auroville Foundation, with partners Valley of Words & Chennai International Centre. Speakers include awardees of Sahitya Akademi, UNESCO, Tagore, International Booker & more. ALF caps month-long 150th birth centenary celebrations of Sri Aurobindo. ALF brings together writers, experts to honour Sri Aurobindo's legacy & realise human unity in Auroville, a universal town of 60 nations.

In its scale and scope, Auroville’s first literary festival beginning this week, appears to reach for the stars, given the special confluence of the sesquicentennial of Sri Aurobindo, whose universal vision was actualised by The Mother, and the centenary celebrations of French architect Roger Anger, who under her guidance, reimagined the City of the Future.

The debut edition of the Auroville Literature Festival (ALF) from August 25 to 27, scheduled at the International Zone in the township, will present a galaxy of writers, thinkers, translators and artistes and discussions on an array of topics. Book launches and signing events, art and cultural shows and culinary and exhibition spaces are the event’s other features.

The ALF has been designed as a tribute to the legacy of Sri Aurobindo in his sesquicentennial year, drawing together some of the best writers and a set of experts who have researched the poet-philosopher’s prolific writings.

Organisers of the event point out that Auroville, in fact, takes its name from the evolutionary philosopher and its founding purpose is to realise human unity. Initiated with a city plan and a Charter, Auroville aspires to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. Today, the universal township houses pathfinders from 60 countries including G20 nations.

The topics range from real life and the logic of fiction, the language of opera, understanding history/perspectives, the supramental state of mind, integral yoga and the secrets of the vedas. In addition, there are spotlight sessions on Sri Aurobindo and youth orators.

The not-for-profit organisations Valley of Words International Literature and Arts Festival Shabdavali and The Chennai International Centre are festival partners while the Ministry of Culture and Auroville Foundation are supporting the event.

Anu Majumdar, author and a festival coordinator along with Sudha Prabhu, points out that as the challenge of pulling off an event of this scale in Auroville has to do with vastness, rather than dearth, of space, the festival venues---Bharat Nivas, Savitri Bhavan, and Unity Pavilion-- are clustered within an accessible radius in the international zone.