Hyderabad Literature Festival 2020: The language in focus is Malayalam

Kerala's music and dance are distinguished by several folk dance forms such as Koodiyattam, Theyyam, Kathakali and Mohiniattam. At HLF2020, an evening of Koodiyattam will enliven the audience. The festival will also feature a rich mix of authors, film directors and poets, who will be presenting various realms of creativity; poetry, literary fiction and non-fiction and movies

Adoor Gopalakrishnan has written and directed 12 feature films, participated in all major film fests, and has won the National Award as Best Director for five times, and the International Film Critics' Prize six times consecutively. His film 'Elippathayam' won the BFI Award for the "Most Original and Imaginative Film of 1982". He is also the author of four books on cinema.

Manu S. Pillai is the author of 'The Ivory Throne' (2015), 'Rebel Sultans' (2018), and most recently, 'The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History' (2019). Written over six years and researched in three continents, 'The Ivory Throne' won the 2017 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.

Margi Madhu trained under his father, Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan Chakiar and his paternal uncle, Dr Ammannoor Madhavachakkiar. He is Assistant Professor and currently Head Department of Theatre, Sreesankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala. He is the author of five books and numerous articles on Koodiyattam.

Indu G trained for 15 years in Koodiyattam under Moozhikkulam Kochukuttan Chakiar, Margi Madhu Chakiar, and Usha Nangiar. She also has ten years' training in Mohiniattam and Bharathanatyam under Kalamandalam Chandrika. She has given numerous performances in India and abroad. She has published four books and several articles on Koodiyattam,and won poetry awards.

Anitha Thampi is a Malayalam poet and translator. She has published four collections of poetry: Muttamatikkumpol (While Sweeping the Frontyard; 2004), Azhakillaathavayellam (All that are bereft of beauty; 2010), Alappuzha Vellam (Alappuzha Water; 2016) and a trilingual co-authored collection, A Different Water (2018). She has published translations of the Australian poet Les Murray (2007), translated the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti's autobiographical monologue I Saw Ramallah (2017), the Spanish classic Platero and I and the Italian classic Pinocchio.

Suresh K Nair studied at the Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur; Film and Television Institute of India, Pune; Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan; and Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia. He has exhibited his work in India and abroad and has acquired major presence in art spaces for his Public Art. He currently teaches Visual Art at Banaras Hindu University.

Vipin Vijay is an award-winning contemporary film director and screenwriter from India. A postgraduate in film making from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute SRFTI, Calcutta. He received the Charles Wallace Arts Award for research at the British Film Institute, London, 2003. His films will be presented at HLF 2020.

Paul Zacharia writes in Malayalam under the pen-name 'Zacharia' and has published over 50 works of fiction and non-fiction including short stories, novellas, travelogues, film-scripts, collections of essays/columns and children's books. 'A Secret History of Compassion' (2019) is his most recent novel. Literary awards he has received include the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award.

Benyamin is a Malayalam novelist and short story writer. He has published 24 books, including nine novels. 'Aadujeevitham' (2008; Goat Days 2012) was a huge success and it has been reprinted more than 170 times. It has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and has been translated into many languages. Jasmine Days (2018) is also a best seller and it has won the JCB Prize for Literature (2018) and the Crossword Book Award for Translation (2018).

Lakshmi Nambiar runs Shrishti Art gallery, one of the oldest and leading contemporary art galleries in Hyderabad. She is also a Partner with Anthill Ventures which invests in startups and helps them scale with speed. She has over a decade of experience in private equity syndication, mergers and acquisitions for technology companies in India and abroad.

Khyrunnisa, A is an award-winning writer of children's fiction, and the author of the hilarious Butterfingers series of books published by Puffin. Her first book for the general reader 'Tongue in Cheek: The Funny Side of Life', a humorous take on the day-to-day experiences of an urban woman, was published in July 2019. Her latest book for children is The Lizard of Oz and Other Animal Stories (2019).

Catherine Thankamma is a retired Associate Professor of English. She has translated the works of Tribal and the Dalit writers from Malayalam into English. Her translation of Narayan's Kocharethi (2011), the first novel by the first tribal novelist of South India, won the 2012 Crossword Award. She has also translated Paul Chirakkarode's masterpiece Pulayathara (2019), the first Dalit novel and one of the founding texts of the Dalit Christian movement in Kerala. She is currently working on her own short stories.

Ravi Shankar Etteth is one of India's best-known cartoonists and journalists. His first book of short stories 'The Scream of the Dragonflies' (1996) was followed by six novels which cut across genres like literary fiction, horror, crime, and spirituality; and periods like feudal Kerala, Nazi Germany and the Magadha Empire. His books have been translated and published in eight international languages. He has collaborated with artist Paresh Maity on a coffee-table book on Kerala.

Muzafer Ahamed, V has over 20 years' experience in print and online media, including 13 years in Malayalam News, Saudi Arabia. He is a travel enthusiast and specialises in Arabian life and culture. Of his 10 books, half are on the Gulf-Arab world, including 'Camels in the Sky: Travels in Arabia' (2018). He also has three books in Malayalam and wrote a travel column "Marumarangal" in Mathrubhumi weekly for two years.

Mini Krishnan edited literary translations for Oxford University Press (2001-19) and for Macmillan India Ltd (1992-2000). She was the Founding Editor of the South Asia Website for Women Writers hosted by the British Council; Member, Translation Mission; and Member, Indian Literature Abroad.