Five Authors to Look Out for at Hay
November's a crazy month. We just had the JCC-Unmad Comic Con. Now there's TEDxDhaka ahead of us and even the Bengal Classical Music Fest later on at the end of the month. Surely you won't have time to go listen to about 60 writers, poets, philosophers and scientists from across 13 countries at the fourth edition of the Hay Festival Dhaka. But fret not SHOUT has identified 5 people who you literary fanatics have got to look out for this year at the Bangla Academy premises.
William Dalrymple
Dalrymple, a co-founder of the Jaipur Literary Festival is famous for his historical accounts of the subcontinent. The popular British Historian will be at Hay this year talking about Mughals and the “splendour of the bygone era.”
He will also speak about his latest book “Return of the King” which is about the first Anglo-Afghan war.
Shashi Tharoor
Tharoor, a politician and bestselling author, will grace us this year with fascinating titbits about what it means to have both a literary and political career, converse on the issue of colonialism and, of course, to discuss his famous book, “The Great Indian Novel.”
Zia Haider Rahman
The British novelist of Bangladeshi origin, made a big name this year with the publication of his debut novel, “In the Light of What We Know” with esteemed critics such as James Wood praising it. Zia Haider Rahman, who previously worked as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs and as an international human rights lawyer, will talk about his novel, its connection with Bangladesh and multiple identities when it comes to writing.
Lucy Hawking
The English journalist and novelist, daughter of Stephen Hawking (whose biopic just came out), and who has co-written multiple children's books with her father, will be on a panel with Muhammad Zafar Iqbal to talk about writing on science and the challenges of it.
Aamer Hussein
The Pakistani short-story writer and critic will return this year to launch his new short story collection from Bengal Lights Books. Aamer Hussein will talk about his experiences of writing for over three decades and will also participate in a panel arguing about “South Asian” identity with Fakrul Alam (Editor of Six Season Review) and Namita Gokhale.
A festival as big and versatile as this, there's so many people and so many things happening at the same time that you are bound to miss on some of them. The literary Editor of Buzzfeed is supposed to show up and talk about their tempting top 10 format and there's also going to be a panel on what Editors look for in the slushpile, and many more.
From cricket to poetry to graphic art, the Hay festival here in Dhaka has played a prominent part in giving us the opportunity to enjoy our favourite writers and artists talk about literature and the arts every year without fail.
Make sure you don't miss out on all the fun.
The Hay Festival starts today.
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