Under 25 Lit Fest: It's time to hear voices of the young!

Bengaluru: Man Booker Prize nominee Jeet Thayil, journalist Shekhar Gupta, historian Vikram Sampath and author Manu Pillai will all find their way to the Hummingtree in June, for the Under 25 Lit Fest.

What: Under 25 Lit Fest
When: June 19, 10 am onwards
Where: Hummingtree, Indiranagar

A first-of-its kind event in the city, this festival will cater entirely to audiences between the ages of 18 and 25, bringing them a host of well-known writers, discussions, workshops, poetry slams, an open mic and the Human Library. “That’s a novel concept we came up with,” said festival curator Surya Harikrishnan.

This unique lit fest is designed to be short and snappy. Audiences will learn how to put out a well-worded tweet or write a brief creatively. What’s a human library, you ask? “Picture an Alcoholics Anonymous setting,” laughed Surya Harikrishnan, the curator of the Under 25 Lit Fest, a first-of-its kind event in the city, scheduled to take place in June this year.

“It’s a space for people to share their deepest, darkest secrets.” Nobody wants to do this, of course, a challenge they’re meeting with blindfolds! “You come in there, wearing your blindfold and tell your story. So that way, you get it off your chest, people know what the story is but they don’t know who it came from. Your secret is still safe.” Then, there’s the BYOB - Bring Your Own Book - which lets you connect with strangers over the literature that changed your life.

As if all this isn’t enough, the Under 25 Lit Fest features a host of well-known writers (no, they’re not all under 25 too!) Jeet Thayil, Vickramm Sampath,  Shekhar Gupta, Dr Shyam Bhat, Durjoy Dutta and Manu Pillai are among the 35-odd writers from across the country who will participate in the festival. “We’re not having hour-long panels either, because the fest is only for a day. We’re making it shorter and crisper - there’s no room for lengthy rants.” That’s in keeping with the youth culture today - delivered in a 140 characters or less!

What’s more, the festival doesn’t limit itself to books. “We’re looking at all forms of communication, including social media and oral expression,” Harikrishnan explained. This includes subjects like, how to present a creative brief or how to express yourself on twitter. “Our writers are over the age of 25, but the topics for discussion are all very relevant to the youth.” Their subjects range from mythology and politics to twitter, all of them constructed to appeal to the young audience. “At the same time, we don’t want to dumb everything down. We know that we’re catering to a niche, even if that niche comprises a significant number of people,” Hariskrishnan added.

The idea came about after the massive success of the Under 25 Club’s startup fest. “We had something that covered business and we wanted  to expand our reach,” he explained. The idea was to have an arts festival,  but this was quickly dismissed because it meant a lack of focus. “It was too  broad to have any real impact.”

Funding is always a problem - this  is a lesson Harikrishnan has learned all too well from his involvement with the Bangalore Literature Festival. Corporate sponsorships and funding is very hard to come by. “Money is an issue, but we have made it work so far,” he said. This they have achieved by collaborating with a network of startups and young entrepreneurs. “They’re all pitching in with different things. One company is giving us a sound system and so on ,” he said.
The response from authors, however, has been overwhelming. “All of them have loved the idea and we do have a number of big names coming in,” he pointed out.

Panel discussions, an open mic one-on-one sessions with authors, workshops, the Human Library and the BYOB are all crammed into what is certain to be a jam-packed, thoroughly exciting day. “I have learned that with the youth, it’s all about the general feel of things. They need a good vibe to feel involved.”