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Brahmaputra lit-fest starts today

By Nava Thakuria |

A colourful literary carnival will lead the three day Brahmaputra Literary Festival in Guwahati of northeast India starting on 28 January. The vibrant carnival will proceed from the Khanapara locality of the prehistoric city towards the venue of the festival at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra cultural complex. Union human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar, Assam’s education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are scheduled to flag off the carnival.

In fact, after years of conflicts Assam is ready to welcome hundreds of writers from various parts of the world for the literary congregation. The festival, first of its kind in NE, attracts over 150 authors from India and abroad.

Jointly organized by the National Book Trust of India and Assam government, the festival will be inaugurated by Union minister Javadekar in presence of the State chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State education minister Sarma, NBT director Rita Choudhury along with many distinguished personalities.

“The three-day literary extravaganza is expected to expose the local and budding writers to internationally famed authors. Moreover the visiting writers will also get the literary flavor of our region in the festival,” said NBT director Choudhury, who herself is an acclaimed Assamese author.

Eminent authors who have consented to arrive in the city for the festival include Achala Moulik, Ajay Mago, Amitabh Pandey, Anitha Thampi, Ashok Bhowmick, Bharathi S Pradhan, Carlo Pizzati, Charu Nivedita, Desmond Kharmawphlang, Devendra Mewari, Diptiranjan Pattanaik, Francois Gautier, Ipshita Mitra, Jeyanthi Manokaran, Kaizad Gustad, Kanaka Ha Ma Vishnunadh, Khalid Mohamed, Madhu Gurung, Marika Johansson, Rajiva Wijesinha, Sanjoy Hazarika, Shahid Rafi etc. The extravaganza includes various programs like panel discussion, book release, book reading, culture items along with screenings of selected films. The festival is expected to depict language, literature, culture and society of the region in a vivid manner to the world. Moreover, the presence of intellectual, litterateur, editor, publisher, student and literary appreciators in the festival is expected to enrich the literary fabric of the region, added Ms Choudhury.

 

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Senior journalist based in Guwahati.

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