Mainstream the green movement

The ongoing virtual Green Literature Festival identifies, promotes, and celebrates books, authors, conversations and various cultural expressions on the environment

“There has been an explosion of writing on nature,” says Bahar Dutt, one of India’s most well-known voices for the environment. She was talking at a panel discussion on ‘Writing on Environmentalism in India: Challenges and Opportunities’ at the ongoing Green Lit Fest (www.greenlitfest.com). “Every second person on social media is writing on nature, environment, ecology and the economy,” she adds.

The GLF, conceived by Benedict Paramanand, founder of e-magazine sustainabilitynext.in, is a platform that attempts to enrich and nurture as many useful discussions as possible on matters of India’s ecology. “The idea is to mainstream conversations on environment,” says Benedict. “We have books on environment and climate change but not much conversations on the topics. This is the space for dialogue on environment writing and issues. A space for those who care for the planet to hang out.”

“We envision green literature in a wider sense, not just fiction, non-fiction, and books, but also children’s literature, poetry, drama and comics,” says Meghaa Gupta who is also a part of the founding team of GLF. “We are curating books for children, adults, and green business.” Meghaa is the author of A Home of Our Own and Unearthed: An Environmental History of Independent India (Penguin).