5 - 7 December 2019 , Thu - Sat.
GALF 2019 : Speakers | Programme | Partners | Performances | Artwork | Videos
Photo Gallery: Inaugural Day | Day 1 | Day 2
Suneeta Peres da Costa
Suneeta Peres da Costa was born in Sydney, Australia, to parents of Goan origin. She writes fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. Her debut novel, Homework, was published internationally by Bloomsbury in 1999 and a novella, Saudade (Giramondo, 2018; Transit Books USA & Canada, 2019) – on the legacies of Portuguese colonialism and the Goan diaspora in Angola – is shortlisted for the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2019 (Fiction). Over the years, she has worked with the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Museum of Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney Review of Books & Mascara Literary Review, among others. Her literary honours include a Fulbright Scholarship, the Australia Council for the Arts BR Whiting Residency, Rome, and, recently, an Asialink Arts Creative Exchange to the Australian and New Zealand Studies Centre at Himachal Pradesh University, India. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Communication from the University of Technology, Sydney, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, New York.
Patricia Pereira-Sethi
Patricia Pereira-Sethi is an award-winning international journalist who worked for two decades as correspondent, editor and the United Nations Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine in New York. She was the first Indian and youngest ever correspondent to be named the United Nations Bureau Chief of an American organisation. She has conducted one-on-one interviews with more than 45 heads of state during her career, including Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Fidel Castro, George Bush Sr, Augusto Pinochet, Daniel Ortega, Olaf Palme, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Robert Mugabe, Pham Van Dong. And others. Patricia has been felicitated for her career by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and the Goa Union of Journalists after her return to Goa. She has authored the biography of industrialist Ramesh Chauhan Thunder Unbottled: From Thums Up to Bisleri (2013). She lives in Dona Paula and is a Special Columnist for the Sunday Panorama section of the Navhind Times as well as the magazine Viva Goa. Fluent in Spanish, she has lectured at Goa University’s Centre for Latin American Studies to PhD students.
Nirmala Govindarajan
Nirmala Govindarajan is an author, journalist and social sector documentarian. She endeavours to build an equitable world through her writing. Her new novel Taboo (Picador, Pan Macmillan, 2019) is inspired by under-aged girls who are kidnapped and trafficked. Her recent novel Hunger’s Daughters (Om Books International, 2019) is born out of her experience of documenting in India's rural heartland. Nirmala has authored The Community Catalyst, recommended reading for civil services aspirants (Sapna Book House, 2016), and co-authored Mind Blogs 1.0 (Write Wing Media, 2010). In 2014, Nirmala co-curated the debut Times Literary Carnival, Bangalore, and in 2016, debuted the Literary Lounge series at the British Council, Bangalore. Most recently, Nirmala has pioneered the Writer’s Yatra and Reader’s Yatra experiences in offbeat locations. Nirmala dabbles in theatre, plays the western classical piano and violin. www.nirmalagovindarajan.com
Masood Hussain
Masood Hussain, a prolific water colourist from Kashmir, collaborated in 2019 with the haikuist Gabriel Rosenstock from Ireland to publish "Walk with Mahatma," celebrating the sesquicentenary of Gandhi's birth. Masood honed his skills at Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Arts, Mumbai. He teaches at the Institute of Music & Fine Arts in Srinagar, Kashmir, where he was born and raised. “Kashmir draws us to imagine ourselves,” Masood says, “amidst her lush shades of green, crystal clear lakes, gushing streams, snow-capped peaks—a paradise that has sadly been in pathos now for over a generation. We need a Mahatma.”
Alfred Almeida a.k.a. Pogoat
Pogoat is a Goan writer, wrecked by the resource curse upon Goa. Nonetheless, he has never participated in a protest march, nor filed a complaint or even donated money for any environmental restoration.
Pogoat finds it disgusting to live in a society where on a regular basis we need to brutally protest and protect our basic human necessities. Immersed in a world building project of an equal world with the guiding light of Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Kerouac, Hemingway, Dr. Thompson and Bob Marley. He's regularly tormented by his own characters, their deceptions, their lies, their truth and their lust for everything.
Rochelle D'silva
Rochelle D'silva is a performance poet based in Goa. She writes about her travels, cultural influences and personal experiences. Her poems give voice to feelings of displacement, love and loss. She started performing in 2011, and since then has performed on numerous stages across India, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal. She has been a part of a multitude of literary festivals; Times Lit Fest 2018, Goa Art and Lit Fest 2018, Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival 2018, Kala Ghoda Art and Literature Festival 2018 to name a few. In 2016, she represented the Indian writing community during a poetry tour in Nepal called Words Express – Spoken Word Jatra, featuring international poets from Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and the universally proclaimed Sarah Kay.
Rochelle has created the very first residency solely designed for poets - 'The Poetry Retreat' is a 5-day residency held twice a year in Goa. Both her spoken word albums (A Thin Veneer of Coping and Best Apology Face) are available on Bandcamp/iTunes/Spotify. Her solo collection of poems, When Home Is An Idea, has been widely appreciated as a conduit to talk about identity and belonging.
Ritwik Sanyal
Pandit Ritwik Sanyal, is one of the most eminent Dhrupad singers,disciple of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar ,he got Sangeet Natak Academy Aword for Music in 2013, he is also a great academic, writer and philosopher.
Retired Professor of the Banars Hidu University, where he was vocal teacher in the faculty of performing arts for 39 years, he has been also Dean of the faculty and Head of the department for several years.
He has been travelling across the globe since childoohod and tha is why he received a very special input to express with his own words and philosophy the ancient musical tradition of India.
His father was an eclectic philosopher and scholar, Prof. Batuk Sanyal and his mother, Shri Mati Ranu Sanyal a great writer and singer.
He assimilated his parents gifts and the Dhrupad tradition with a deep research in the indian tradition, both musical and philosophical , becoming a unique Master that combines the finess of singing with the logical way of Philosophy.
His master work Philosophy of Music is a book where he explains the sublime concept of music in philosophycal language.
Arun Prakash
Admiral Arun Prakash was India’s 20th Naval Chief and served concurrently as Chairman Chiefs of Staff 2004-2006.
A naval aviator by specialization, he commanded a fighter squadron as well as a number of warships, including the aircraft-carrier Viraat. In flag-rank he commanded the Eastern Fleet, the Andaman & Nicobar Joint Command and the Western Naval Command. He served on staff, as head of the navy’s Aviation and Personnel branches, and as the Vice Chief.
Post-retirement, he served two terms in the National Security Advisory Board and headed the National Maritime Foundation. He writes and speaks on maritime and strategic issues and currently holds a Distinguished Chair in India’s Naval War College.
Rajorshi Chakraborti
Rajorshi Chakraborti has published six novels and a collection of short fiction. He was born in Kolkata and grew up there and in Mumbai, and now lives with his family in Wellington, New Zealand. Two of his earlier novels have been nominated in different categories of the Crossword Book Award. His new novel, Shakti, a supernatural mystery thriller, is due to be published by Penguin Random House in November.
Yvonne Vaz Ezdani
Yvonne Vaz Ezdani stays in Saligao, North Goa but lives for some months of the year with her family in Brisbane . She is an ex teacher turned school counsellor and an author of two books, 'Songs of the Survivors' published by Goa 1556 and 'New Songs of the Survivors' published by Speaking Tiger. Although the genre of these books is oral history, she is also interested in psychology and stories of the human mind and spirit. She loves reading ,writing and gardening.
