Ooty Literary Festival 2025 To Host Discussions on Literature, Politics, and Technology

The Ooty Literary Festival (OLF) 2025 is taking place between March 14 to 15, 2025 at the Nilgiri Library, featuring over 40 speakers from various fields. The event will focus on discussions related to literature, politics, artificial intelligence, cinema, and history.

The festival will include sessions with speakers such as filmmaker Mani Ratnam, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, cricketer Srikkanth Krishnamachari, musician TM Krishna, and industrialist Venu Srinivasan. Sessions will cover subjects including political developments, the role of artificial intelligence in governance and business, and the influence of storytelling in cinema and literature.

Dr. Ganesh Devy will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to linguistic studies. He will also deliver the keynote address, Who Is an Indian?, which will examine linguistic and cultural changes in the country. The festival will open with a Badaga dance performance and a tree-planting ceremony led by Dr. Devy.

Panel discussions will include a session on defence strategy with speakers such as Dr. Srinath Raghavan and Air Vice-Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (Retd.). Another session will examine the political and economic outlook for the country until 2047. Literary panels will include discussions with first-time authors on writing experiences, while poetry readings will be held with contributions from multiple poets.

Mani Ratnam will lead a session on the structure and practice of storytelling in cinema. Discussions on artificial intelligence and machine learning will examine its applications in business and governance. Srikkanth Krishnamachari will speak on the 1983 Cricket World Cup, while Paralympian Deepa Malik will discuss experiences in sport and public life.

The festival will conclude with a session led by TM Krishna on the social and structural role of music. Additional activities include a yoga workshop and a session on gender, disability, and mental health. TM Krishna will also participate in a performance with Irula tribal musicians.

Ooty Literary Festival 2025 will be a forum for discussions on literature, politics, and culture, maintaining its position as a platform for intellectual engagement.