Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Rites of Passage: Three Novels
Keshava Guha, Devika Rege and Seán Hewitt in conversation with Catharine Morris
Three writers trace the restless terrain of coming of age, capturing the beauty and ache of lives in transit. Seán Hewitt, a poet, memoirist, and literary critic, speaks about his outstanding debut novel, Open, Heaven, a celebration of youth, sensuality, and love in all its forms. Writer Devika Rege’s Quarterlife is a sweeping, polyphonic novel about the restlessness of youth, where ambition, class, and desire collide in turbulent India. Keshava Guha offers an acerbic and emotionally layered picture of Delhi in his recent book, The Tiger’s Share, where brilliant daughters and feckless sons grapple with inheritance, ambition, and a crumbling patriarchy. In conversation with Catharine Morris, the Associate Editor of The Times Literary Supplement, the session explores how their characters confront the delicate and tumultuous journey of youth, navigating the intersections of family, identity, and ambition.
Keshava Guha is the author of the novels The Tiger's Share and Accidental Magic. His essays and journalism – on politics, culture and sport – have been widely published. He was previously a senior editor at Juggernaut Books and a columnist for NDTV.
Devika Rege's critically acclaimed debut novel, Quarterlife, delves into India's shifting political values and social dynamics amid the rise of Hindu nationalism. Nominated for multiple Indian literary awards, it won the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year in 2024 and was published in the UK earlier this year.
Seán Hewitt is a poet, memoirist and novelist. He has received the Laurel Prize and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Hewitt is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Open, Heaven, his debut novel, is expected to be out in 2025.
Catharine Morris is Associate Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, where she commissions and edits book reviews in the fields of biography, memoir, travel, bibliography and language. She is also a freelance writer. Between 2004 and 2008 she worked in the obituaries department of The Times.
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Rites of Passage: Three Novels
Keshava Guha, Devika Rege and Seán Hewitt in conversation with Catharine Morris
Three writers trace the restless terrain of coming of age, capturing the beauty and ache of lives in transit. Seán Hewitt, a poet, memoirist, and literary critic, speaks about his outstanding debut novel, Open, Heaven, a celebration of youth, sensuality, and love in all its forms. Writer Devika Rege’s Quarterlife is a sweeping, polyphonic novel about the restlessness of youth, where ambition, class, and desire collide in turbulent India. Keshava Guha offers an acerbic and emotionally layered picture of Delhi in his recent book, The Tiger’s Share, where brilliant daughters and feckless sons grapple with inheritance, ambition, and a crumbling patriarchy. In conversation with Catharine Morris, the Associate Editor of The Times Literary Supplement, the session explores how their characters confront the delicate and tumultuous journey of youth, navigating the intersections of family, identity, and ambition.
Keshava Guha is the author of the novels The Tiger's Share and Accidental Magic. His essays and journalism – on politics, culture and sport – have been widely published. He was previously a senior editor at Juggernaut Books and a columnist for NDTV.
Devika Rege's critically acclaimed debut novel, Quarterlife, delves into India's shifting political values and social dynamics amid the rise of Hindu nationalism. Nominated for multiple Indian literary awards, it won the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year in 2024 and was published in the UK earlier this year.
Seán Hewitt is a poet, memoirist and novelist. He has received the Laurel Prize and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Hewitt is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Open, Heaven, his debut novel, is expected to be out in 2025.
Catharine Morris is Associate Editor of the Times Literary Supplement, where she commissions and edits book reviews in the fields of biography, memoir, travel, bibliography and language. She is also a freelance writer. Between 2004 and 2008 she worked in the obituaries department of The Times.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
