The 23rd edition of the Kochi International Book Festival is set to begin on November 29. The event will be inaugurated by Governor Arif Muhammed Khan. The 10-day event, which is organised by Antharashtra Pusthakotsava Samithi, is aimed at promoting reading.

More than 300 publishers from all over the nation will be participating in the event. “We expect over two lakh people and there will be something for everyone,” said EN Nandakumar, president of Antharashtra Pusthakotsava Samithi. During the last five days of the event, Kochi Literature Festival is to be held in multiple venues. Authors and celebrities, including Aruna Sairam, S Ramakrishnan, Paramita Satpathy and Subrabharati Manian, will take part.

EM Haridas, the General Secretary of the Antharashtra Pusthakotsava Samithi says, "This organisation was set up over 23 years ago when we felt that the Indian people were going backwards culturally. Kochi is a particularly busy city and we did not have any time for Literature. So we introduced the festival to bring that tradition back to our shores."

Writers from 12 Indian languages are slated to participate in the All India Writers’ Meet organised by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Indian writers in English led by Anand Neelakantan will also take part. The Malayalam side is to be represented by T Padmanabhan and other famous writers.