More fest, less lit? Debate over lit fest boom heats up

For a sense of how far India’s literary festival scene has travelled, listen to publisher Shailesh Bharatwasi run through his recent itinerary. Founder-editor of Hind Yugm and a key voice behind the Nayi Wali Hindi (New Hindi) movement, he now moves through a calendar that stretches well beyond the metros — from Moradabad to Hapur, Aligarh, Indore and Khajuraho, towns once far removed from the idea of multi-day literary gatherings. Now, each has a festival.
For him, the boom is staggering. He estimates that if the budgets of all literary festivals currently taking place in India — a number, he believes, has far exceeded the reported 100 — were put together, the amount would run into several hundred crores.