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1st December 2008

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Furore at Kitab festival

26.02.08

This year's Kitab festival - held in Mumbai from February 22-24 - was remarkable in pleasing no one, reports the Guardian. Its founder Pablo Ganguli, the 24-year-old former darling of the literary circuit, now stands accused of mismanagement, failing to pay his debts, and favouring British authors over Indian ones.

Twelve high-profile authors - including Amit Chaudhuri, Ian Jack, Geoff Dyer, Helen Simpson, Esther Freud, Deborah Moggach, Philip Hensher, Kamila Shamsie and Jackie Kay - signed a letter in support of the protests, calling for a boycott of Kitabfest 2008.

Ganguli denied all accusations but admitted to being "too ambitious" and said that Kitab 2007 fell well short of being perfect, which he blamed on the chaos of Mumbai and the inevitable last-minute dropouts by authors.

Guardian

International book fair india Kitab festival