Event Details :

Gauhar Raza’s talk on the effects of dissident poetry in times of establishment-imposed conformity and the role of the poet.

Sessions:

• "Bol ke lab azaad hain tere" Recital session of a range of progressive poetry
• A talk with Gauhar Raza –
  The discussion will try to touch upon the following points:
• Progressive poetry: Mere entertainment or something more?
• What rebel songs in these times of oppression will look like.
• With the budding popularity of poetic symposia – those organised by the government as well as private ones – what place do progressive and dissident poetry occupy in society and politics?
• What impact has the poetry of our classical poets had on the authorities in India?
• In these times, when our freedom of speech is under attack, what part does progressive poetry play?
• How does the progressive poem of today differ from that of previous eras?

Event Details :

In this talk with Sohail Hashmi, we will try to answer one key question: How does a city come into being? Delhi, the national capital, is majorly full of migrants. Excepting the Jats and Gujars, it is impossible to find people who'd be native to this city. In its history, the city has seen everything, in a way that destruction and re-building have been a consistent part of the history of this city. Partition played a key role in shaping the city. The current urban character coexists with the histories that this city holds in its forts, monuments, gates, temples, mosques, etc. The entry point of this talk is the Delhi of the late-Mughal period, and by travelling through various junctures, we arrive at the present-day Delhi, a city which is run by its Metro. In this journey, we look at a broader and an essential question: How did Delhi come into being? What does Delhi's present retain of its past? In this city of migrants, is there any notion of a 'Delhi Identity'? If yes, what does this consciousness of belonging to this city constitute?

Event Details :

नासिरा शर्मा हिंदी की एक विख्यात लेखिका हैं। कहानी, लेख, रिपोर्ताज, संस्मरण, आलोचना आपकी ढेरों पुस्तकें हैं।

नासिरा शर्मा हिंदी की एक जानी-मानी हस्ती हैं। 2016 में "पारिजात" उपन्यास पर आपको साहित्य अकादेमी सम्मान मिला है। अपनी क़लम के लिए आप विश्वविख्यात रही हैं। नासिरा शर्मा अपने लिखे हुए को जीने में यक़ीन रखती हैं। उनके लिए लिखना महज़ लिखने भर के लिए नहीं हैं बल्कि आपके लेखन की एक सामाजिक उपादेयता है। ये समाज वो उपेक्षित और मेहनतकशवर्ग होता है जहां वास्तव में ज़िंदगियां धड़कती हैं। ये वर्ग जो समाज की संरचना में दिन-रात मेहनत करता है, मगर अधिकांशतः नज़रों से ओझल रहता है।

कार्यक्रम की प्रस्तावित योजना :

• नासिरा शर्मा का संक्षिप्त परिचय
• रूबरू – नासिरा शर्मा से बातचीत
• नासिरा शर्मा द्वारा चयनित कविता/कहानी/नाटक के कुछ अंश (ये सभी अंश उनके द्वारा संपादित पुस्तक "अदब में बायीं पसली" से होंगे)
• श्रोताओं से बातचीत

Event Details :

As part of [email protected], we offer a full-day workshop on ‘Making Red Books’ with

author Vijay Prashad (Chief Editor, LeftWord Books)

editor Andrew Hsiao (Verso, New York)

designer Sherna Dastur

artist Orijit Sen

moderated by Sudhanva Deshpande (Managing Editor, LeftWord Books).

This is a free workshop, there is no fee.

Participation is strictly by registration.

To register: Send an email to [email protected] with the following details:

1. Your name.
2. Age.
3. A few lines about yourself, including any previous experience in publishing or design or bookmaking.

Last date for registration: 12 March

Time: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Event Details :

LeftWord Books completes two decades of publishing. To mark the occasion, we have a mouth-watering series of events lined up over three days (14, 15 & 16). Our panel discussion on the 15th features –

activist Teesta Setalvad,
novelist Githa Hariharan,
economist Jayati Ghosh,
publisher Indira Chandrasekhar,
journalist Shalini Singh,
moderated by Vijay Prashad (Chief Editor, LeftWord Books);
‘On 20 Years of LeftWord’ by Prakash Karat (Managing Director, LeftWord Books);
release of several new books, including a fresh Hindi translation of The Communist Manifesto by Subhashini Ali;
screening of a short film on LeftWord by Newsclick;
announcement of plans for International Red Books Day.

Time: 5 p.m.

All are welcome.

Event Details :

LeftWord Books published its first title in March 1999. This year, we complete two decades of publishing. To mark the occasion, we have a mouth-watering series of events lined up over three days (14, 15 & 16).

The first event in this series, ‘Telling the Story’ – A Talk on Writing by P. Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), chaired by activist-scholar Archana Prasad.

Time: 5 p.m.

All are Welcome.

Palagummi Sainath (born 1957), one of India’s best-known journalists, is the founding editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) – an archive and living journal of the history of rural India. He has lectured and taught at various institutions, including the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. Sainath is the author of the acclaimed book Everybody Loves a Good Drought on rural poverty in India. He has won over 40 global and national awards for his reporting (and turned down several, including the Padma Bhushan because, in his view, journalists should not be receiving awards from governments they cover and critique). In 2007 he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his ‘passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India’s national consciousness’. Two documentary films on his work, Nero’s Guests and A Tribe of his Own, have received over 20 international awards.

Sainath’s most important work from the past decade focuses on India’s agrarian crisis, with hundreds of exclusive field reports and news analysis and photographs.

Event Details :

LeftWord Books invites you to ‘Lula and the battle for democracy in Brazil’, a talk by Cristiane Ganaka, Brazilian economist and researcher with Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Time: 6.00 pm

Event Details :

LeftWord Books is pleased to invite you to the launch of

A.G. Noorani’s The RSS: A Menace to India

[9788193466681, Hardcover, 547 pages, 6.25” x 9.25”, Rs 1,500]

Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari

former Vice President of India,

has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest

Githa Hariharan, novelist, and

Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor, The Wire

will also speak on the occasion

2 April 2019, 6.00 pm

Join us for tea at 5.30 pm

Seminar Halls 2 & 3, Kamladevi Complex, India International Centre, New Delhi

Event Details :

It’s May Day!

Yes, it’s that day again! The day we salute workers’ struggles. The day of solidarity. And as India votes, the day to remind us to always swipe left.

Like every year, we have a super line up of performers/speakers including Rahul Ram & Sanjay Rajoura, Sumangala Damodaran, Mukul Manglik, Dastaan Live, Satyam Tiwari, Vineet Kumar, Aishwarya & Shromona, and more to be announced soon.

If you’d like to bring a guitar and sing a song, do so. (But come by 2 pm, so we can give you a slot.)

We have a mouthwatering collection of new, used, and rare books. The best bargains go fast — and, as always, we have an absolutely fantastic collection — so plan to arrive early.

And of course, we have food and beverages — our famous samosas, cakes, bread, and cool drinks. And of course, coffee! ☕

Share widely — help us spread the joy 🙂

Time: 1 pm onwards