'I don't mind being called an impresario'

Q&A: Pablo Ganguli

Pablo Ganguli is an England-based "cultural entrepreneur" and the founder of Kitab, India's international literary and media festival, which was first held in Delhi in April 2006. The second edition of the festival will take place in Mumbai between February 23-25; participants will include leading literary figures from India and Britain, including Amit Chaudhuri, Shabana Azmi, Hanif Kureishi and Germaine Greer. He talks to Jai Arjun Singh about what lies ahead

What did you have in mind when you conceptualised the Kitab festival?

It occurred to me that India has a tremendous literary culture but there hadn't been a proper international festival of writers and media "" one that was centred not just around books but also around other kinds of writing: movie screenplays, criticism, Internet writing and so forth.

Actress Goldie Hawn was a prominent draw at last year's Kitab. How did she fit in?

Well, there's an example of what I mean "" she isn't an author in the usual sense (though she has a book to her credit) but she's indirectly connected with writing since she works from movie scripts.

We don't have a fixed agenda, but we do have a focus "" to always be creative. We don't want Kitab to stay married just to literature but to look at other related fields as well, such as politics. Which is why we have, for instance, a panel discussion on the topic "causes and effects of terrorism in Britain and India today".

How do you compare yourself with other such festivals?

We aren't into the comparison business. There's a place for all kinds of events. But even so ... the celebrated fest at Neemrana a few years ago was a one-off event, and I thought it was somewhat elitist. What about the unknown/lower-profile writers? The Katha fest is dynamic but localised. As for the recent Jaipur festival "" I love the people who organised it, but going by media coverage it was like the Salman Rushdie Weekend. A festival needs to be broader, more comprehensive "" not just with one or two big names.

Delhi last year, Mumbai this year... don't you plan to set up base in any one city?

I'd get bored if we did that! We want to travel to as many different places as possible. In fact, we have a second Kitab fest planned for August this year in Pondicherry. V S Naipaul will be there, and we are trying to get singer/songwriter Alanis Morrisette as well. Then, next year, we'll be going to Kolkata.

Literary criticism is still quite underdeveloped in India, except in a handful of niche publications. Will fests like Kitab be able to change that?

Oh, I don't think any festival can achieve that "" it would be like saying "can a BJP conference bring the BJP back into power?" It really depends on the reading culture that already prevails in the country. All we want to do is to bring people together, make them listen, and hopefully have fun as well!

What are your own reading tastes?

I don't get much time to read "" I'm too busy organising festivals! Apart from Kitab, I work on others round the year. But my tastes are very specialised "" usually books no one has heard of. One of the last things I enjoyed was Susannah Clarke's The Ladies of Grace Adieu, about the world of magic and black magic in 19th century England.

By all accounts you are quite a magician yourself when it comes to organising events, developing contacts and so on...

I don't mind being called an impresario! (laughs)