Just months after the world-famous Hornbill Festival, Nagaland residents are now gearing up for another festival. While it may not be as grand as Hornbill, the White Owl Literature Festival & Book Fair, scheduled for February 9–10, 2024, is a collective effort to bridge literary gaps, transcend boundaries, and revitalise the joy of reading and storytelling. In collaboration with Penguin Random House India and Cambridge University Press, the theme for this year is “Echoes of Narratives”, to celebrate Nagaland’s rich culture of storytelling—a legacy passed down through generations.
This one-of-a-kind festival showcases a diverse program with renowned authors, cultural performances, delectable food services, and Nagaland’s first book fair that will extend for three more days after the festival.
EastMojo sat down for an interview with Viketuno Rio, Festival Director, The White Owl Literature Festival and the proprietor, The White Owl Book Lounge, to understand the rationale behind the festival, its objectives and the current landscape of literature in Nagaland.
Excerpts:
What was the reason behind starting a literature festival in Nagaland, and what other literature festivals do you look up to for inspiration?
Viketuno Rio: One year ago, The White Owl Book Lounge was established to reignite the love for reading and foster a community of readers, writers, and thinkers enthusiastic about creating meaningful connections and positively influencing their world. Through modest initiatives, we set out on a mission to revive a profound love and appreciation for literature. Today, we embark on one of our most ambitious projects – the literature festival.
A crucial aspect of any literature festival is to promote local talent and literature. Can you tell us more about your initiatives in this regard?
Viketuno Rio: The White Owl Book Lounge has been actively hosting a variety of literary events aimed at engaging the community and championing local literature. These events encompass everything from book readings to insightful discussions with local authors, as well as advocating for regional literature at book fairs and interactions with local literary figures. Central to our initiatives are writing workshops, serving as a pivotal element that equips aspiring writers with the necessary tools and guidance to refine their craft.
Through the literature festival, our overarching aim is to construct a platform that not only celebrates but also showcases the literary diversity inherent in the region. The inaugural program of our festival features a distinguished local author and poet as the keynote speaker, with notable figures such as Mmhonlhomo Kikon and Theyiesinuo Keditsu, among many others from the Northeast, making their debut at the festival.
Our collaboration with esteemed publishers like Penguin and Cambridge University Press significantly enhances the depth of our literature festival. These publishers have prominently featured works by Naga writers, instilling confidence that our festival will make a substantial and meaningful contribution to the ever-evolving literary landscape.
Looking forward, our future objectives revolve around establishing more accessible literary platforms, ensuring that local talent is provided ample opportunities to shine. We have plans to organize additional writing workshops and implement mentorship programs, demonstrating our commitment to fostering and supporting emerging writers within the community.
How has the public response been for your festival and what has been the most positive aspect about the same? Does the response reaffirm your belief that despite what some might argue, there is still a huge market for literature?
Viketuno Rio: At the heart of the festival is the bookstore, The White Owl Book Lounge. Everything, including the festival, is an offshoot of our endeavour to build a local reading community in the state. Ever since our inception, we have been convincing local readers to try different genres, and we love having conversations with grandparents, parents and children. This is exactly what we are doing with the inaugural White Owl Literature Festival, we have curated a mix of engaging sessions cutting across various genres like fiction and non-fiction, environment, translation, history, economy, beauty & wellness, folklore & storytelling, poetry, graphic novels, and various workshops for children and adults, like comic-making, creative writing, illustrations, crime fiction writing, storytelling and more.
I am hopeful that the reading community will grow by leaps and bounds when independent bookstores get the much-needed support from publishers, and this is where trade and academic publishers like Penguin and Cambridge University Press step in, reaffirming my belief that we are headed in the right direction in celebrating literature and the love for reading in our state.
Can you tell us a little more about the non-local authors that will be present at the festival?
Viketuno Rio: Thanks to our brilliant programming team, bibliophiles in the state are in for a treat. Our festival will witness around 50 authors, speakers, translators and more gathered in the heart of the city. The theme for this year’s festival is “Echoes of Narratives”, and will feature eminent names from different walks of life including Vivek Shanbhag, Sarnath Banerjee, Vasudha Rai, Jahnavi Baruah, Ashok Lahiri, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, Rohan Chakravarty, Durjoy Datta, Mamang Dai, Arupjyoti Saikia, Nikhil Gulati, Jane De Souza, Subhash Garg, Moushumi Kandali, Srinath Perur and many others who will be travelling from outside the state.
We have seen that in the past decade or so, Nagaland and the state government have really stepped up in providing infrastructure for festivals like Hornbill. How is the state government helping you with this festival?
Nagaland has now become a tourist delight not only for Indians but for travellers from all over the globe, this is evident in the way festivals like Hornbill have been received, and the state government plays a pivotal role. Our festival will be inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Nagaland.
However, our festival would not have been possible without the support of partners who have come forward to make this possible. To name a few, Indigo Airlines has come on board as the Cultural partner, Zone Niathu by The Park as the Hospitality partner, Penguin as a co-partner and Cambridge University Press as a knowledge partner. Besides, several local businesses have lent their support to make the festival a success, they will all be highlighted during the two-day event and book fair.
How do we ensure that the buzz around literature festivals translates into more footfalls in local bookstores so that we can build a strong ecosystem for reading, and learning thereby promoting bookstores?
Viketuno Rio: As I mentioned earlier, at the heart of the festival, is the White Owl Book Lounge, an independent bookstore that I started in 2022. We have had author events, author signings, book clubs, writing workshops for children and adults, and various other activities to encourage footfalls in our store.
We have been working tirelessly with educators, community members, and children and tied up with several schools & colleges to organize book fairs. All these efforts have enabled an indie bookstore like ours to foster a strong ecosystem for reading and learning in the local community.
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However, we wanted to expand and build on our strong foundation by organizing a literature festival and book fair, we are fortunate that the biggest trade and academic publishers, Penguin and Cambridge University Press, came forward to support us. It’s the best thing that an independent bookstore like us could have wished for.
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