Focus on Goa’s language and literature at GALF 2023

2019 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, Professor Abhijit Banerjee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the extraordinary Goan military hero Major General Ian Cardozo will deliver keynote addresses on January 19 at the International Centre Goa in Dona Paula at the inauguration of the comeback edition of the beloved Goa Arts + Literature Festival (GALF) after a three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event, scheduled for 5.30 pm on Thursday, January 19, is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

GALF 2023 will feature its trademark broad mix of exciting book launches, presentations, panel discussions and films, including separate sessions for Major General Ian Cardozo’s acclaimed new memoir Cartoos Saab: A Soldier’s Story of Resilience in Adversity (4 pm on Jan 20), and Professor Banerjee’s brilliant new cookbook (along with illustrator Cheyenne Olivier) Cooking to Save Your Life (12 pm on Jan 20). 

Other distinguished delegates include the superb poet/novelist Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, next-gen publisher Trisha Niyogi, pioneering indie publisher Arpita Das Ribeiro, highly-regarded Bangladeshi novelist Iffat Nawaz, and Goa’s own filmmaker Bardroy Barretto.

The inaugural evening will also see the launch of noted Konkani writer and public intellectual Uday Bhembre’s latest novel, Vhoddlem Ghor. 

There will be a sustained focus on Goa’s state language and literature throughout GALF 2023, which will also take the opportunity to celebrate the 2022 Jnanpith Award winner who is our own festival co-founder and co-curator Damodar Mauzo.