Translation remains one of the best ways to bring diverse cultures together and Srijana Lunheem Subba, Jashna Rawat and Madhu Raghavendra talked about its intricacies, place within the contemporary literary scene, and the importance of knowing the source language during a session entitled ‘Bridging Cultures: The Art of Translation’.

A multilingual poetry reading session chaired by Kumud Sharma featured Feliz D’Souza recited poems in Marathi, Streamlet Dkhar in Khasi, Tongbam Amarjit in Manipuri, Mushtaque Basheer Barq in Kashmiri and Lairemruati Ngente in Mizo. The poems touched on themes of identity, nature and emotions and depicted layered human experiences.

A session on artificial intelligence led by journalist Mathew T George and graphic artist George Mathen aka Appupen, author of Dream Machine, a graphic novel on AI, kept the audience hooked.

Day 2 began with Bengali writer Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay and former President of the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad talking to Goan author and Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo about his literary journey and his relationship with Konkani. “The language suffered at the hands of history but it has survived because the people had refused to be divided,” he said.

Quite refreshingly, the event featured authors not just from across the country but also from areas of the world that don’t have an immediate historical or cultural connection with the Indian subcontinent like Estonia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark.

Miwa Sakuraki, author of Japanese novel Acacia in the Morning, spoke to environment columnist and novelist Rajat Chaudhuri about the strong socio-political issues in her writing and her desire to try different genres like science fiction or even a different kind of writing like ‘tanka’ from which the haiku form originated.

Estonian writer Margus Lattik, who also uses the name Mathura, spoke with Assamese poet, writer and translator Bijoy Sankar Barman about his complex native tongue that is made even more complicated by the absence of gender indicators. Lattik pointed out the similarities and differences between Estonian and Indian cultures.

South Korean Sung-il Kim, author, Blood of the Old Kings, translated by Anton Hur, spoke to academic Subhadeep Paul about imperialisms past and present. “Imperialism still exists and is a part of our lives and of geopolitics. I keep colonialism and imperialism in mind while writing,” said Sung-il Kim, adding that while countries like the US may be democratic internally, their actions at the international level are absolutely undemocratic.

Rajat Chaudhuri also spoke to Mathew George about his upcoming book Wonder Tales for a Warming Planet, eco-fiction, and literary trends around environment writing and publishing in India.

During a post-lunch session on day two, Rashmi Narzary, author, Tales from Assam’s Bodo Heartland talked to Jeetumoni Basumatary about carrying her heritage and culture to a global readership through her literary work. “People are more interested to learn about different cultures through stories than research papers,” she said.

Murder mystery writer Salil Desai, whose latest book is The Grudges of Gajanan Godbole, spoke to Rajat Chaudhuri about his writing process and how he sneaks in a part of himself into his stories. “At my crime writing workshop, I try to include several exercises in order to create unique experiences which the writers can then use in their stories,” he said.

Festival attendees too were an enthusiastic lot and the open-air theatre saw several poets reciting poems in their native languages. At the “writers’ confluence”, several writers discussed the importance of peace and justice in society. Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay stated that the situation in many north eastern states is better than it was in the past and stressed the importance of cherishing that peace. Tibetan writer Tenzin Tsundue extended solidarity to the quest for Bodoland and linked it to the Free Tibet movement. He also stressed that it was the majority community’s responsibility to treat minorities with respect. “Today we are discussing how to keep peace and that is easier said than done. Peace does not come from the majority suppressing the minority. Peace comes from the majority’s magnanimity and the minority’s resistance and strength; from the majority losing their ego and the minority getting space,” he said.

The last day of the festival started with a serious discussion on ‘Borders, Exile and the Spirit of Resistance’. Writer Divya Agarwal stated that apart from the obvious physical borders, society needs to work collectively on several other invisible borders including that of gender and caste. Tenzin Tsundue talked about finding freedom while living as a refugee and about poetry being a strong tool to change minds and convey messages. Danish academic Bente Wolff spoke about keeping Danish and Indian cultures in contact and learning from each other. Madhu Raghavendra recited his poem dedicated to the farmers from Tamil Nadu who protested at Jantar Mantar in Delhi in 2016. Danish poet Clause Ankersen said that performance poetry is his activism against the elites. “It can be used to give voice to the voiceless,” he said before reciting his poems like Radio Europe, Istanbul and Give Me More.

Novelist Annie Zaidi spoke to Arjun Sengupta about her latest work The Comeback, about witnessing class-based stratification during her childhood, the state’s marginalization of Urdu, and divisive politics.

Quite remarkably, while successfully celebrating literature and culture, the Kokrajhar Literature Festival also emphasized the creation of a peaceful and just world and for that it deserves special praise.

Chittajit Mitra (he/him) is a queer writer, translator and editor from Allahabad. He is co-founder of RAQS, an organization working on gender, sexuality and mental health.