OdishaPlus Bureau
A galaxy of nearly 100 eminent litterateurs from different parts of the country are expected to come together on a single platform to discuss the contemporary trends in Indian literature as the first SOA Literary Festival is scheduled to kick-off on Saturday.
The two-day literary fiesta is being hosted for the first time by the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University, a front-ranking university in the country, to facilitate the interface between eminent authors, story tellers, poets, commentators, historians, critics, and translators, both young and old, and further the cause of Indian literature.
The event, which bears the tagline ‘Celebration of Words and Ideas,’ will also focus on the rich literary and cultural legacy of Odisha.
“SOA believes that though Science and Technology are tools through which modern society’s progress is made possible, it should be done in an atmosphere fragrant with art, culture, and literature,” Vice-Chancellor, Prof. RK Chauhan said.
The SOA Centre for Preservation, Propagation and Restoration of Ancient Culture and Heritage of India (PPRACHIN), a SOA initiative aiming at preservation, propagation, and restoration of the country’s rich heritage and culture, is organizing the event.
PPRACHIN’s main thrust is to make a variety of publications, conduct research, take up digitalization, organize workshops, seminars, and conferences to provide an understanding and appreciation of the philosophy, aesthetics and beauty inherent in Indian art, literature and culture, its Head, Dr. Gayatribala Panda said.
The literary figures expected to participate in the festival include Dr. Vasdev Mohi, eminent Sindhi poet who has been conferred with the prestigious Saraswati Samman this year, Dr. Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Dr. Jayanta Mohapatra, Dr. Pratibha Ray, Dr. Ramakant Rath, Dr. Sitakanta Mahapatra, Dr. Vikram Sampath, Chitra Mudgal, Dr. Dnyaneshwar Mulay, HS Shivaprakash, Jayant Parmar, Ashok Maheshwari, Arun Kamal, Brajendra Tripathi, Dr. Rita Nath Keshari, Dr. Ranu Unyal, AJ Thomas, Udayan Vajpeyi, Amandeep Sandhu, Rajendra Kishore Panda, Dr. Soubhagya Kumar Mishra, Kuldeep Kumar, Yashodhara Ray Choudhury, Haraprasad Das, KR Meera, Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra.
The event, which will have 26 sessions spread over the two days, will also feature Odia film personalities like Sabyasachi Mohapatra, Anu Choudhury, Akash Das Nayak, and Akshay Parija.
Odia author Tarun Kanti Mishra and Santali writer Kali Charan Hembram, who have been nominated for the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi award for 2019, will be felicitated on the first day of the meet, she said.
The topics to be deliberated upon will include ‘A Moment’s Monument: Art of Short Story’, ‘Inter Lingual Translation in India’, ‘Publishing Trends in India: The Problem of Plenty’, ‘Women’s Writing: Holding Up Half the Sky’, ‘Literature and the Fifth Column: A Troubled Marriage’, ‘Return of the Narrative: Novel Writing in India’, ‘Poetry as Performance’, ‘Visual Poetry: The Exploration of Colour’, ‘How to Tell a Story When There is No Story’, ‘Can a Contemporary Bestseller stand the Test of Time’, ‘Roll, Camera, Action: Magic Mantra of Our Times’ and ‘Jagannath Culture’.
There will also be ‘Face to Face’ sessions with eminent litterateurs like Dr. Jayanta Mohapatra, Dr. Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Amandeep Sandhu, Vikram Sampath, and Sadhana Shanker. Besides, there will be sessions for multilingual poetry recitation as well.
