Readings | The city as written

City writing has gained popularity in the mainstream space in India over the last two decades across various genres. Aman Sethi’s A Free Man, Naresh Fernandes’ City Adrift and Vivek Shanbhag’s Ooru Bhanga are some examples of narratives that archive the moments, people and practices that make and unmake a city over the years. With the city increasingly becoming the locus of a complex landscape of claims, writing about the city has become akin to a political act. To write about the city is to stake a right to represent, re-imagine and re-tell a city’s stories through personal prisms.

With a commitment to catalysing discourse around urban issues in the global south, IIHS envisaged City Scripts – a three-day celebration of city writings. Since 2016, the festival has brought together eminent authors, journalists, architects, poets, artists and others, and centre-staged writing of various kinds through conversations, readings, panel discussions and workshops.

City Scripts 2018 builds on these conversations through different modes of engagement including masterclasses, walks, poetry sessions, live art and installations, panel discussions and workshops. To know more, visit: https://cityscripts.iihs.co.in/