N.S. Madhavan to be awarded Kerala Legislative Assembly’s literary award at KLIBF inaugural function - The Hindu

The fourth edition of the Kerala Legislature International Book Festival (KLIBF 4), organised by the Kerala Legislative Assembly, will be held from January 7 to January 13, 2026, on the Assembly premises here. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the festival at a function to be held at the R. Sankaranarayanan Thampi Lounge in the Assembly complex on January 7 at 11 a.m.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly’s award for contributions to literature will be presented to writer N.S. Madhavan at the inaugural function. Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq will be the chief guest at the function.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday (December 29, 2025), Speaker A.N. Shamseer said that the festival this year will witness the participation of more publishers, from small-time publication houses to large corporate players. A total of 180 publishers will participate with books spread across 300 stalls.

Renowned writers, journalists and socio-cultural including Sri Lankan writer Chulananda Samaranayake, Marathi poet Prafull Shiledar, T. Padmanabhan, K.R. Meera, T.D. Ramakrishnan, musician T.M. Krishna, P. Sainath, Aakar Patel, Rana Ayyub, Saira Shah Halim and others will be part of the festival.

Political leaders, including K.C. Venugopal, M.A. Baby, M.V. Govindan and Binoy Viswam, will participate. Filmmakers Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad and Kamal will come together in a session to commemorate actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan, who passed away this month.

Several events such as book launches, book discussions, debates, interviews with authors and lectures will be held across six venues. Mega shows featuring singers including K.S. Chitra, Sithara Krishnakumar, Manjari, Sreenivasan, Sarath, Madhu Balakrishnan, Vidhu Pratap, Hari Shankar and others will be held on all evenings during the festival.

A model legislative Assembly, aimed at familiarising students with the functioning of the Legislature, will be conducted at the Old Assembly Hall in the Secretariat building. At the students’ corner, prominent figures from the literary, social and artistic fields will interact with children.

Theyyam performances led by E.P. Narayanan’s Theyyam Paithruka Samithi will be staged from January 8 to 12. Entry to the seven-day festival is free. During the festival days, visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the Assembly hall and the Legislative museum.