AMU Literary Festival
AMU Literary Festival is an annual literary festival organised by Aligarh Muslim University. University Debating and Literary Club formerly University Literary Club of the university organises the festival. Some of the previous invitees include news anchor and author Rajdeep Sardesai, poet Keki N. Daruwalla, politician Mani Shankar Aiyar and independent journalist Rana Ayyub.
Organisation
The festival is organized under the auspices of the University Literary and Debating Club of the Aligarh Muslim University. The club consists of students as its members. The festival is the University Debating and Literary Club's flagship event.Journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai talking about media, activists such as Paranjoy Guha Thakurta talking about crony capitalism and novelists like :de:Chandrahas Choudhury|Chandrahas Choudhury having panel discussions about the Indian novel; the festival is a diverse celebration of literature and mass communication, in all its forms.
The festival attracts audience from all across the city, transcending the boundary of the university. Previous invitees include the poet Keki N. Daruwalla, politician Mani Shankar Aiyar and independent journalist Rana Ayyub. With people from diverse areas coming together and talking about the issues of the day and age, the festival is truly a melting pot of culture. Workshops to teach students about the ins and outs of various forms of writing and public speaking are also conducted as a part of the festival, which rounds out the educational experience.
The University Literary Club was established in 1973. The club is the extension of the oldest literary Society of AMU, the "Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Literary Society" founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan himself. The University Literary Club was rechristened as University Debating Literary Club in 2015.
Past festivals
Lit Fest 2017
The festival was organised from 3-5 March, 2017.- List of Guests in 2017
| Name | Field | - |
| Swara Bhaskar | Actress | - |
| Ashok Vajpeyi | Poet in Hindi, essayist, literary-cultural critic and a former civil servant | - |
| Prof. Manoj K Jha | Professor of Social Work | - |
| Aditi Rao | Poet, activist and essayist. | - |
| Zafar Anjum | Author and journalist | - |
| Tushar Gandhi | Journalist | - |
| Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar | Medical officer and activist | - |
| Omair Ahmad | Writer | - |
| Hilal Ahmed | Editor, writer, teacher and producer | |
| :de:Chandrahas Choudhury | Literary critic and novelist | - |
Literary Festival (2016)
- List of Guests
| Name | Field | Video link |
| Rajdeep Sardesai | News anchor and author | Watch video - , , |
| Paranjoy Guha Thakurta | Journalist and political commentator | Watch video - , |
| Keki N. Daruwalla | Poet and writer | Watch video - , , , |
| Mani Shankar Aiyar | Diplomat and politician | Watch video - , |
| :de:Chandrahas Choudhury | Literary critic and novelist | |
| Mariam Karim Ahlawat | Teacher, freelance editor and a writer | |
| Satyarth Nayak | Author, script-writer & journalist | |
| Nivedita Menon | Feminist writer and professor | Watch video - , , , |
| Rana Safavi | Author and historian | |
| Sarwat Khan | Contemporary Urdu writer |
Literary Festival 2015
- List of guests
| Name | Field | Video link |
| Jerry Pinto | Writer and journalist | Watch video - , , , |
| Sudeep Sen | Poet and editor | |
| Syed Asghar Wajahat | Scholar, novelist, independent documentary filmmaker and television scriptwriter | |
| Rakhshanda Jalil | Writer, critic and literary historian | |
| Radha Chakravarty | Writer, critic and translator | |
| Prof. Purushottam Agrawal | Academician, novelist, literary critique, theologian, secularist, columnist and broadcaster | |
| Aseem Ahmed Abbasee | Lyricst poet and creative writer | |
| Yaseen Anwer | Multilingual poet | |
| Kausar Munir | Lyricist and screenwriter | |
| Rana Ayyub | Journalist and independent columnist | Watch video - , |
| Sami Ahmad Khan | Author | |
| Manisha Sethi | Teacher and author | |
| Hilal Ahmed | Editor, writer, teacher and producer | |
| Dr. Saamdu Chettri | Head of first Gross National Happiness Centre |