Given that literary festivals are largely about panel discussions, journalists are often "known faces" with good articulation, and who are more likely to be up to date on current affairs/ hot topics that would be discussed. It's a rather obvious fit.
There are, of course, many panels that are solely literary, but a journo as a moderator is not uncommon. On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 12:02 PM, Sumant Srivathsan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about > > journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers > > congregate? What do you all think? > > > > I don't believe literary festivals are about journalism more than > literature. In fact, I'm curious to know why you believe this is so. Of > course, non-fiction deserves its place within the literary conversation, > and there have been some good non-fic books in recent years, many of them > by journalists. Concurrently, much fiction, particularly IWE, has been > rubbish. That the translation market shows no sign of growth is another > issue that might drive organizers towards the deeper wells. > > As for where writers might congregate, well, I don't know, since I'm not a > writer myself. I meet writer friends as one might meet friends, and at > literary events where there aren't too many journalists. >
