Women writers’ festival takes on the cultural fabric of Bengaluru through its female voices

Women writers from across different genres will come together under one roof in Bengaluru on Saturday, August 31 to discuss the new avenues, challenges, pitfalls and platforms for women writers in the country. The day-long tête-à-tête, complete with panel discussions, readings and spoken word poetry is part of the 15th edition of the Women Writers’ Festival by SheThePeople.TV.

Instead of focusing on politics and literature that usually headline such events, this festival is about viewing the changing ideas of words. “Women writers are breaking new ground as writers, script writers, micro fiction bloggers, authors, graphic artists, storytellers. It’s our endeavour to connect, engage and elevate this community and create an emerging platform of ideas,” founder Shaili Chopra says.

From actress Kubra Sait on writing for web series to Shashi Deshpande on the need for women to be heard to Preeti Shenoy and Shiney Antony on writing female characters, the festival has an impressive line-up of firebrand writers and performers.


One of the highlight of the day-long event is the spoken word poetry performances, themed on being a woman in the city, a genre that is line with the new generations’ adaptation of poetry.

“One of our most popular panels every year is the AMA on ‘How to Get Published’ where experts talk about marketing, editing and platforms,” Chopra added.

The changing cultural and environmental face of Bengaluru finds pride of place with a discussion on ‘How Green Was Our City: Bengaluru’ with experts like Harini Nagendra, Seema Mundoli, Manasi Kumar, MB Rajani and Bijal Vachharajani.

“We’re looking at Bengaluru through its female voices and exploring it in all its forms – from female representation in fiction and non-fiction, the power of writing for climate change to feminist perspectives in writing,” Chopra said.