മണ്ണ്.
മഞ്ഞ്.
മല.
കാട്.

Hello,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the first edition of the Wayanad Literature Festival, or WLF. Wayanad, as we know, is not just famous for the fertility of its soil, but also for the rich experience it offers for the mind and soul: its winding roads, paddy fields, mountains, and the clean sky that lets you dream, imagine, think, write and create.

We are launching the first edition of WLF to build a bridge, and to help the people of Wayanad and the adjoining areas with the extraordinary opportunity to enjoy a curated literature festival; in return, we offer some of our best creative minds the opportunity to engage with the people of Wayanad.

The year-end season is among the most beautiful times for Wayanad—with misty mornings and evenings, sunny, Vitamin-D-rich days, ripening peppercorns dangling on winding vines, cranes, the ubiquitous wetland bird, picking grains and small fishes after the season’s rice harvest, healthy banana plantains swinging gently in the wind, and bamboo stems creaking like a natural orchestra. All these await you as you drive around the mountain district. And now, there’s one more reason for you to enjoy Wayanad: the WLF.

Organised and curated in a village under the Edavaka Panchayat, unlike most big literature festivals in the country, WLF stands testimony to the fact that lands far away from bustling cityscapes can be fertile grounds for pioneering creative and cultural engagements. The fact that WLF overlaps with the time of Christmas and New Year is a nod to responsible tourism—we hope that the influx of tourists and visitors to the festival will give local artisans and literateurs the change to showcase their work to visitors, and celebrate the spirit of art, literature and culture.

Among the visiting dignitaries include Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy; poet and Kerala Sahitya Academy President, K Satchidanandan; novelist Paul Zacharia; critic and orator Sunil P Ilayidom; novelist Sheela Tomy; poet Joy Vazhayil (who, in his day job, is the chief secretary of Kerala, and is known as VP Joy); orator Sunny Kapicadu; poet-writer Sukumaran Chaligatha from Wayanad’s Chaligatha village; flash fiction writer PK Parakkadavu; writer and documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak; writer and activist KJ Baby; agriculturalist and storyteller Cheruvayal Raman; novelist and poet Kalpatta Narayanan; poet and lyricist Rafeeq Ahammed; actor-screenwriter-director Madhupal; film editor Bina Paul; journalist, film critic and documentary filmmaker OK Johnny; actor Abu Salim; investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph; artist Devaprakash; writer Sithara S; journalists Leena Gita Reghunath and Dhanya Rajendran; short story writer Abin Joseph, emerging Tulu language poet Dhanya Vengacheri; storytellers Leena Olappamanna and Nawaz Mannan; Manikuttan Paniyan of Thonichal in Mananthavady; poet P Naveena and youth icon Anarkali Marikar. We also have a film festival, and days peppered with musicals and cultural programmes.

The festival will be held on December 29, 30 and 31, 2022 at Dwaraka, Mananthavady. We would really like for you to come and join us. The festival is free to attend. But there are a few advantages for delegates. So please do consider becoming a delegate. Kindly extend your warm support to the inaugural edition of the Wayanad Literature Festival. Looking forward to seeing you in Dwaraka, Mananthavady.