Writers Attending MBIFL '19 Disturbed Over Global Surge Of Intolerance
Rome-born Francesca Melandri, Italian writer and documentary filmmaker, reminisced that during her first visit to India in 1989, it was possible to visit Kashmir freely. Since then the tide has turned. She remarked that she was in the country during the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, which marked a turning point in the ascendancy of intolerance and majoritarianism threatening the secular fabric and plurality. Compounding this was the global phenomenon of rampant globalisation. She wishes that Europe would embrace a more humane policy towards migrants and eschew Islamophobia. Her fascination with India has seen her naming her daughter, Shanti. Her stint as an English teacher in Ladakh and the resultant fascination with the regional culture led her to calling her son Tashim. And in a further reinforcing of that bond; in Tenzing Kalsang, born to a loving Tibetan couple, she found her god daughter. She has made innumerable trips to India, including to Kerala more than a decade back, visiting Kovalam, Kochi and the backwaters. Thiruvannamalai is another source of inspiration. A little known fact is that the Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' was translated into Italian by her mother. So in all the lands she visits, she makes it a point to check if the classic has been published locally. After a long and successful screenwriting career, her literary debut was in 2010 with ‘Eva Sleeps’, a critically acclaimed bestseller translated into most European languages. Her second novel ‘Higher than the sea’ confirmed her standing among readers and literary critics. Both novels have been awarded several prizes in Italy and Europe. Her latest novel ‘Sangue Giusto/The rightful blood’ has been nominated for the prestigious Premio Strega. She is also an award-winning documentary-maker. Kiev-resident Andrei Kurkov is an Ukranian novelist, who writes in Russian. He also expressed anxiety at the attempt to curtail craetive freedom and stifling of dissent. An independent thinker, he worked for some time as a journalist, performed his military service as a prison warden at Odessa and then became a film cameraman, screenplay writer and author. He penned critically acclaimed, popular and absurdist novels including ‘Death and the Penguin’, ‘The President’s Last Love’, ‘The Milkman of the Night’, ‘The Bickford Fuse’. ‘Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev,’ is a first-hand account of the Maidan protests. He has published 23 novels, which have been translated into 37 languages, 10 books for children, 10 film scripts, and 2 non-fiction books, the latest published in 2018 is on helping the homeless around the world. The latest - ‘Grey Bees’ - is about situation in Donbass grey zone and in annexed Crimea. The novel has been adopted for theatre and will premiere in Kiev this March. The book is already published in Denmark, soon coming out in Iran, also this year in English in London, in German in Zurich and next year in French. His childhood memoir - Detstvo - is being serialised in ‘Mathrubhumi’ week-end edition. His Kerala connection began with a Mathrubhumi delegation, headed by Chairman and Managing Director, M P Veerendra Kumar, setting up a late evening session in the cosy nook of a cafe in Old Kiev, close to Saint Sophia Cathedral on September 5, 2012. He accepted an invitation to attend the centenary of S K Pottekat, organised by Mathrubhumi in March 2013 in Kozhikode. His second visit was during the initial edition of MBIFL last year.
