Rainbow Literature Fest Digital and One

 

A two-day online series called Digital & One. It is being held over the weekend of December 5 & 6. The event will see the coming together of over 50 leading authors, poets, activists, scholars, filmmakers, artists, performers and business leaders to discuss a variety of topics.

 

While queer representation itself will be at the forefront through discussions, films and performances, the presence of scholars such as Dr Bibek Debroy (Author, Economist and Chair of the Prime Minister’s Economic Council) and Dr Shashi Tharoor (Author and Member of Parliament) is rare and significant as none of them have addressed a queer-dominated event of this kind in the past.

 

The line-up of for the event includes the likes of personalities like Maya Sharma, Sandip Roy, Dr Akhil Katyal, Saurabh Kirpal, Parmesh Sahani, Michiel Baas, Aditi Angiras and Raga Olga D’Silva from the LGBTQIA+ community. Alankrita Shrivastava, Dr Saif Mahmood, Tanuja Chandra among others who will shed light on intersectionality and common ground. Spectacular performances from Indie artists such as Smruti Jalpur, John Oinam and Leon D’Souza. The event will also include the likes of a puppet show by Varun Narain, followed by poetry recitals by Vishal Ghatge, Shambhavi Devedi and Aditya Tiwari, in addition to stand-up comedy by Navin Naronha.

 

The panel discussions and performances will be interspersed with cinematic experiences, including the screening of films like The Men Who Speak Gayle by Nathan Kennedy, Nowhere by Christopher Manning, Do Re Mi by Prajesh Kashyap, Forever 17 and Parvaah by the Humsafar Trust.