Daribha Lyndem, Jahnavi Barua and Aruni Kashyap in conversation with Urvashi Butalia

The world in the last decade has acquainted itself to the gems of north eastern literature. Whilst for the uninitiated it is a new culture to explore, for those who have been avid readers of this literary tradition, its popularity in the mainstream comes as no surprise. However, how does one define North-eastern Literature, the sub-cultures that it is made up of and its boundaries? An illustrious panel evaluates the representation of language, dialect, and socio-political narratives of the eight states and explores the place of their authors within larger literary traditions.

Arun Maira has an unusual combination of hands-on leadership experience in the private sector, in government and in the social sector. He was a member of India’s Planning Commission from 2009-14. He is a thought-leader on processes of institutional transformation. He is the author of several books, including Transforming Systems: Why the World Needs a New Ethical Toolkit, and Listening for Well-Being: Conversations with People Not Like Us. Chandrahas Choudhury is the author of the novels Arzee the Dwarf, Clouds, and Days of my China Dragon, and editor of the anthology India: A Traveller's Literary Companion. He is also a Creative Writing mentor at the University of Iowa's Summer Institute programme and Honourary Distinguished Professor at KR Mangalam University. Easterine Kire has written nine novels and novellas, winning the Hindu Prize in 2015 and Tata Book of the Year in 2017 and the Sahitya Bal Puraskar in 2018. She has also published a number of poetry volumes and children’s books. Kire holds a Phd from Poona University. Kabir Bedi’s credits include starring with Michael Caine in Ashanti and Roddy McDowell in Thief of Baghdad and playing the title role in the Italian film The Black Pirate (Il Corsaro Nero). On American television, he has acted in Highlander, Murder She Wrote, Magnum, PI, Dynasty and many HBO mini-series. On stage, he starred in John Murrell’s Taj at the Luminato Festival in Canada and MM Kaye’s Far Pavilions in London’s West End. In India, he has done close to 70 Bollywood films, famously starring with Rekha in Khoon Bhari Maang. Bedi lives with his wife Parveen Dusanj, a producer, in Mumbai.

Arupa Patangia Kalita in conversation with Ranjita Biswas and Aruni Kashyap

Arupa Patangia Kalita's fiction is a chronicle of the disturbing and searing history of decades-long aggression and hate that plagued Assam. In conversation with her translator Ranjita Biswas alongside author Aruni Kashyap, she speaks about the surreally beautiful landscape of Assam, the conflict that scarred it and the role of a writer in fraught times.