Galle Literary Festival begins: All dressed up but no one to see?

Big names in the world of literature. Globally renowned authors. Poets and performers. The site of the 9th Galle Lit Fest was awash in buntings. But missing from the occasion was a robust audience. While events at smaller venues were overflowing or nearly full, the big hall with starring speakers exhibited row upon row of empty chairs, suggesting the organisers' stress on exclusivity had almost excluded an audience.

The gala's five-day pass was sold out very early, suggesting an intense interest, but the gateway to many an interesting event was through additional payment ranging between USD 7 and USD 70. In addition to the tidy sum of money this must be yielding (16 private events were individually ticketed on day one), the participation of individual authors was also a sponsored affair. The name of the sponsoring company was announced, dutifully and with due reverence, in conjunction with that of the author before each event. The authors – straw polled by Chhetria Patrakar – had not been informed of this sponsorship and learnt of it only through the festival brochure after their arrival. Nor did they know that many of their events required further payments to attend leading some to express their discomfort.