MBIFL'19 at Kanakakkunnu Palace from January 31

Kozhikode: Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL'19), the union of letters, ideas and gratifying discussions will be held from January 31, 2019 at five venues in Kanakakkunnu Palace, Thiruvananthapuram.

The second edition of MBIFL'19 will see story, poetry, novel, movies and concepts coming together for four days. Over 300 writers, thinkers and artistes from Europe, USA, India, Africa, Latin-America and West Indies will be part of the biggest literary festival in south India. Over 100 writers representing several generations will also take part in the fest.

This year’s theme “Known Lands; Unheard Voices” will see the participation of over 50 international representatives including poets, novelists, academic experts, graphic novelists, artists and journalists.

The keynote speakers of the festival include Dr Shashi Tharoor and Austrian writer and feminist Prof Germaine Greer. MBIFL'19 will be a space for open discussions that touches every aspect of human culture.

The festival will discuss the changes that environment, Movie, Politics and development of science and technology makes in our lives, literature and culture. Cultural programs that will be held every evening will provide colour to the festival.

The popularity of last year’s three-day event held at Kanakakkunnu was the catalyst behind the expansion of this year’s festival.

As part of Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters 2019 (MBIFL), the  biggest award for stories in Malayalam -  Mathrubhumi Katha Puraskaram 2019 - will be held prior to the literary event.

The best story in Malayalam will get a prize of Rs 2 lakh.

Those interested can participate in the Malayalam story writing contest held as part of MBIFL 19 and win Rs 2 lakh.

A jury comprising writers M Mukundan, C V Balakrishnan, E Santhosh Kumar and led by eminent writer M T Vasudevan Nair will decide the winners.

Runners-up will get Rs 1 lakh while the 3rd prize will be awarded Rs 75,000. Anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 can participate in the contest. 

Participants should send only soft copies of their stories to mystory@mbifl.com before January 20. 

Winners will be announced at the closing ceremony of MBIFL 19. The award winning stories will be published in Mathrubhumi weekly.