'A rare convergence': Author Vasudhendra highlights Dravidian unity at Book Brahma Literature Festival 2026

Bengaluru

This is the first time I am attending this festival, and it has been a wonderful experience. I particularly liked the cool and shaded atmosphere of the venue. We were just discussing how literary festivals in Kerala are often held on beaches, so this is quite a contrast”, said P Ra man, a poet from Kerala and one of the speakers invited to the Book Brahma Literature Festival 2026, speaking to News Trail. His experience captured the mood at the three-day festival being held at the St. John’s Auditorium in Ben galuru, where avid book lovers, writers and liter ary enthusiasts gathered amid a festive atmosphere and pleasant weather on Friday with renewed enthusiasm and curiosity.

The festival features multiple parallel stages, including Mantapa, Mathana, Akshara, Angala, Mukha Mukhi, Anavarna, Chinnara Loka, PoeTTree (Kavya Kanaja) and New zen. The sessions range across Kannada, English, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and other languages, including panel discussions, talks, literary conversations and cultural performances. The venue also has book stalls, toys, handicrafts, food and other stalls, adding to the festival atmosphere. Opportunity to explore languages Poet Raman said the festival offers readers and literary artists an opportunity to observe languages, genres and literary traditions from different parts of India and beyond. “Since morning, I have been attending several Tamil literature sessions.

I wanted to learn more about Tamil literature, and this event gave me the opportunity to explore other South Indian and contemporary literature apart from Malayalam that I am familiar with”, he said. Raman said his session, scheduled for Sunday, will focus on the contemporary Malayalam poetry landscape and the evolving forms of poetry. Speaking about the current poetry scene, particularly in Malayalam, “Many voices that were not heard earlier are being heard now”, he said, highlighting the growing recognition of tribal poetry.

He noted that poets from tribal communities are increasingly writing in their own mother tongues and tribal languages, which has opened up space for diverse ex- periences and voices that were previously underrepresented in mainstream Malayalam poetry. Gen Z lit Professor K E Radhakrish Thriving Enterprise’, Prof Radhakrishna said social media, despite concerns over excessive use and addiction, could also serve as a platform for young sters in preserving and promoting traditional art forms such as Yakshaga na.

“Although there is social media addiction, I see on social media, especially YouTube, that Yakshagana is at the forefront”, he said, responding to whether he believed young people would continue to preserve traditional art forms and the literature associated with them. Na, an educationist and literary figure who has authored nearly 51 books in Kannada, expressed hope that the younger generation, especially Gen Z, will eventually return to reading and play a role in carrying forward the country’s cultural traditions.

Speaking in relation to his session, ‘Yakshagana: From Living Tradition to Meanwhile, author Vasudhendra described the Book Brahma as a unique platform bringing together the Dravidian languages of South India. “This is an interesting conclave where the four Dravidian languages of South India are coming together, which is rare, as most literature festivals are either focused on English or a particular vernacular language”, said author Vasudhendra. While acknowledging that language can be a challenge when speakers from different linguistic backgrounds come together, he said English has helped bridge the communication gap. “Bengaluru is the best cos- mopolitan place to hold a fest like this, where multiple languages can come together at one point”, he said. Vasudhendra added that he hoped discussions on regional literature at the festival would encourage younger generations to explore literary works read and written by their parents and ancestors, rather than limiting themselves to literature in English.