Shyam feels that he really doesn’t have to point festival goers in the direction of the better known writers such as Philippa Gregory, ColmTóibín, Katherine Boo, Dame Margaret Drabble, John Gimlette, Sophie Hannah, Christina Lamb, Dinah Jefferies, Sunjeev Sahota or Amish Tripathi.
But, rather, what he would like to talk about are two groups of events that he is particularly excited about this year: Performances and the Sunset Series. Speaking of them, Shyam said, “To me, these events have always been a bit hit-and-miss over the past Festivals, but this year, through a combination of focussed searching and curating, chance, and accident, these events are very strong.”
In terms of the performances, some of which are listed as Thinking Out Loud and Mayhem Past Midnight, Shyam had the following to say.
“Luke Wright’s one man show What I Learned from Johnny Bevan is incredible.
It’s no wonder it sold out during its 3-week run in London’s West End.
Luke is just dynamic onstage, and it really says something about the power of his work that he could do a play that is all spoken word poetry and yet have it sell out.”
Some years ago, Shyam saw Alison Wearing perform her Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter to a sold out audience at the Kingston Writers Festival in Canada.
She got a standing ovation at the end. After that, he knew he must have her at FGLF and was very disappointed she couldn’t come last year.
So he is really excited to bring her this year to the Festival.
“Alison is dynamic, I was captivated throughout.
She is a warm and generous person and I also highly recommend her workshops.”
Another event that festival goers can look forward to seeing is Soul Sounds performing with live animation by the award winning graphic novelist Reinhard Klesit.
It will be a magical experience to watch Kleist’s images come to life.
He has done this live drawing worldwide with diverse musical and theatre groups.
Other performances that will be a lot of fun are those by Trictiy Vogue and the duo of Jemima Foxtrot and Ramsay (all listed under Mayhem Past Midnight).
In terms of the Sunset Series, Shyam said, “I have always wanted this series to be “boutique” events- by which I mean highend, high quality intellectual events that engage the audience.”
This year, festival goers can look forward to some really strong events in this category such as: Nayanjot Lahiri on The Emperor Ashoka, which promises to be a winner.
Lahiri is a great historian and very engaging. She recently won an important history prize in the U.S. for her Ashoka biography.
One of the things that makes an event work is the passion the speaker brings to the subject: Kristina Taylor’s presentation on Women Gardeners, Sunil Khilnani on Incarnations: India in 50 Livesand Jennifer Murray on her adventure of flying a helicopter Solo to the North and South Poles, should be riveting.
For sheer fun, there is Brigid Keenan on her adventures in fashion. Keenan is a funny and charming speaker and anything by her is worth seeing.
The other series festivalgoers should take note of is the Deep Read series.
These feature a well-known writer along with a poet.
The event runs for an hour and a half, which is longer than the usual hour slot.
The poet opens the event with a 15 minute reading, and then the rest of the time is devoted to the work of the author.
These events combine two things Shyam wanted to see developed at the festival- a more in-depth look at a writer’s work and a bigger audience for poets.
Of course, Shyam says, he has to also mention Dame Margaret Drabble, one of his favourite authors.
He has 2 entire shelves devoted to her books in his collection and has read practically everything by her.
“I just really like her liberal sensibility, her kindness and warmth that shines through in her work.
Her women characters feel very authentic and fascinate.
And I love how she is constantly innovative with the novel form, constantly trying things.”
It has always been one of his dreams to have her at the Festival.
The other dream of Shyam’s, that he has brought to fruition at this year’s Festival, is an entire day of Sinhala programming, featuring some of the best Sinhala writers and critics.
Festivalgoers can look forward to some strong panel discussion in this series and hopefully a whole new audience mingling with the regular festivalgoers in gathering spaces such as the Lit Café.
To increase access to the world of Tamil literature, for the first time there will be a translator at the Fairway Tamil Shortlist panel.
This presents festivalgoers, who are non-Tamil speakers, a chance to know the world of Tamils through their literature.
To kick off the Festival, Shyam will be moderating two of his favourite Sri Lankan authors - Ashok Ferrey and Nayomi Munaweera.
The event is free and, even better, there will be a free book giveaway.
Four lucky audience members will get a copy of Ferrey or Munaweera’s new novels.