Gloria Steinem to kick-start Kolkata Literary Meet on Jan 25

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem will inaugurate the six-day Kolkata Literary Meet (KLM) where writers, thinkers, cineastes and gastronomes from home and abroad will serve up a heady mix of feminism, food, films, theatre and politics.
The carnival, beginning Saturday, will bring writers, thinkers and artistes of national and international repute to the city like Vikram Seth, Mark Tully, Peter Godwin, David Godwin.
Shifting from its earlier venue of the Kolkata Book Fair, the third edition of KLM, organised by Gameplan Sports, would be held at the sprawling Victoria Memorial, the organisers said today.
The American feminist writer Steinem will participate in a discussion on 'Why feminism needs to be strident in India' while eminent lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar will talk on the boundaries between reel and real writing.

Culinary expert Karen Anand will discuss how food unifies India and writer Peter Godwin will explore the tragedy of Zimbabwe and the political implications of a post-Mandela South Africa.
Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah will do a reading on famous Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto followed by a session on a lifetime in theatre.
Others from the film industry will include veteran actors Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee.
The long list of authors who would talk about their lives and works include Bangladeshi poet and writer Shamsul Haque, historian Ramachandra Guha, Bengali writers like Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Sankha Ghosh and award-winning author Adrian Levy, who co-authored the book, 'The Siege', documenting the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.