India, Feb. 22 -- People who fear that reading is on the decline, especially among the youth, would have been pleasantly shocked at the eighth edition of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) from January 23 to 26. Hordes filled every venue set up on Kozhikode beach over those four days. Readers showed up to hear authors, ask questions, buy books and take selfies with their literary idols. The sea was not just a backdrop. Its glorious presence, vast and endless, made KLF stand out.

The festival, which calls itself "a global celebration of words, cultures and ideas" featured Nobel Laureates Esther Duflo and Venki Ramakrishnan alongside Booker Prize winners such as Jenny Erpenbeck, Michael Hofmann, Sophie Mackintosh, Paul Lynch, and Georgi ...