Transgender poet Vijayaraja Mallika urged queer individuals to sit down and document their lives during a session titled ‘Beyond the Binary: Queer representation in literature’ with gay writer Vasudhendra and writer Urvashi Bhutalia.
Mallika and Vasudhendra emphasized the importance of contributing appropriate terms to the regional vocabulary to represent queer persons and their lives. They also noted that queer writing, initially autobiographical, could evolve to encompass a wider range of topics and premises.
Author Benyamin discussed the acceptance of his novel Adujeevitham in the Arab world and the campaign against the Malayalam version of the book in West Asia during a session at the Kerala Literature Festival. Blessy, the director of the forthcoming movie based on the book, shared that the essence of the novel would be preserved in the film set to be released in April 2024.
In a session on the ‘History of the Indian Constitution’, Minister P. Rajeeve emphasized the need for Indian citizens to protect the constitution. Participants also discussed media control over politics in the new era, with differing perspectives on the influence and control of the media in modern life.