Think of conversations around books, cinema and the art of storytelling with the snow-capped Kanchenjunga in full view. Darjeeling’s Chowrasta is preparing to offer such a setting this November, when the hill station hosts its first Arts and Literature Festival, bringing together writers, filmmakers, actors, publishers and emerging creative voices for a seven-day cultural gathering.
The inaugural Darjeeling Arts and Literature Festival (DALF), scheduled to be held from November 14-20, will feature more than 60 authors, filmmakers and creators across over 50 sessions.
Beyond literary discussions and interactions on films, the festival aims to open doors for aspiring writers and young people from the hills, connecting them with professionals from the publishing and creative industries.
The Himalayan setting will lend the event a distinctive character. With Kanchenjunga providing a spectacular natural backdrop, conversations about stories and ideas could unfold against one of the country's most striking mountain landscapes. If the weather is clement, the festival will offer visitors a wonderful combination of literature, cinema and the mountain town's extraordinary atmosphere.
The speaker line-up includes filmmaker and bestselling author Soham Shah; actor, screenwriter and theatre personality Akash Khurana; bestselling authors Kiran Manral and Sujata Parashar; and actor-filmmaker Himanshu Malik. Authors Abhirup Dhar, Divyaroop Bhatnagar, Ramendra Kumar and Rrashima Swarup Verma will also be among the participants. Deepthi Talwar, executive editor at Penguin India, and Suhail Mathur, CEO and co-founder of The Book Bakers Literary Agency, are among the other participants.
For founder and festival director Sujit Kumar Singh, whose roots lie in Darjeeling, the festival is an opportunity to bring the wider creative world closer to the hills while giving local talent a platform to find its voice.
“Literature is the foundation of storytelling, but stories do not remain confined to the pages of a book. They find expression through cinema, theatre, music, performance and the visual arts. DALF seeks to bring all these forms together to celebrate storytelling in all its dimensions,” Singh said.
An important attraction will be manuscript-pitching sessions involving publishing professionals from Penguin Random House India, Bloomsbury and Rupa Publications. For aspiring writers, the sessions will provide an opportunity to present their work directly to publishing representatives and explore possibilities for publication or further development.
“DALF is not just about bringing established names to Darjeeling. It is about creating opportunities for emerging writers and undiscovered stories in the hills. We want young people from the area to see that their ideas and experiences can reach a much wider audience,” he added.
The festival will also feature films adapted from novels and plays, highlighting the relationship between literature and cinema.
Storytelling sessions for children will draw on the oral tradition of sharing tales to nurture imagination, while schools across Darjeeling and neighbouring areas will be encouraged to participate.
For Darjeeling, DALF offers an opportunity to place its young creative talent in dialogue with the wider world. And with the Himalayas potentially in full view, the first edition promises a setting where stories from the hills can meet ideas from far beyond them.
