Skip to content Skip to navigation

Thousands throng Brahmaputra Literary Festival

By Nava Thakuria |

Creative writers, journalists, filmmakers, vivid appreciators, enthusiast observers from various parts of the globe now gather at Brahmaputra Literary Festival in the far eastern part of India. First of its kinds in the alienated region of the country, the festival witnessed the gala opening on Saturday precluding all serious panel discussions on literature and related other creative activities.

Eminent authors including Randy Taguchi from Japan, Neal Hall from USA, Carlo Pizaati, Giampaolo Simi & Alessandra Bertini from Italy, Francois Gautier & Nicolos Idier from France, Carlos Penalver from Spain, Subramani from Fiji, Dhunpal Raj Heeraman & Ramdeo Dhorundhur from Mauritius, Selina Hussain & Shaheen Akhtar from Bangladesh, Rajiva Wijesinha from Sri Lanka, Raj Heeramun, Ramdev Dhoorandhar & Niranjan Kunwar from Nepal, Yugyen Tshering from Bhutan have already graced Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, the venue of the festival.

Many prominent Indian writers and cultural personalities like Asha Parekh, Shatrughan Sinha, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra Damodar Mauzo, Subhash Kashyap, Makarand Paranjpe, Narendra Kohli, Khalid Mohammed, Dipa Choudhuri are scheduled to participate in various sessions of the festival including open interaction with the audience.

Some famed north-eastern creative personalities and journalists including Sanjoy Hazarika, Arup Kumar Dutta, Jahnavi Barua, Mamang Dai, Pradip Phanjoubam, Monalisa Chankija, Dhruba Hazarika, Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, Leena Sarma, Jnan Pujari, Phanindra Kumar Debachoudhury, Kula Saikia, Rami Chhabra, Vimala Morthala, Aniz Uz Zaman, Monikuntala Bhattacharjya, Dileep Chandan along with Utpal Borpujari, Nilim Kumar, Suparna Lahiri Baruah, Mirza Ali Baig, Prasanta Rajguru, Mrinal Talukdar, Arindam Barkataki, Samrat Chowdhury, Nanigopal Mahanta, Imran Hussain, Ratna Barali Talukdar, Atanu Bhattachrya, Geetali Borah etc arrived at the venue for cohesive participation.

With this three-day fiesta, jointly organised by the National Book Trust India (under HRD ministry) and Publication Board Assam (under Assam’s education ministry), the city has emerged as an important venue of literary festivals in the country. With brain storming panel discussions, book releases & readings, cultural events including screenings of films based on literary pieces etc, the festival is expected to enrich the literary prospect of the region to many extend. Inaugurating the festival, the Union human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar appealed to the litterateur and authors to contribute for the mission to build a culturally sound society through their literary pieces reflecting the truth. Once a journalist, Javadekar also assured the government's support in ensuring the freedom of thought & expressions.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, celebrated authors Randy Taguchi, Mamang Dai and Damodar Mauzo, NBT chairman Baldeo Bhai Sharma & director Rita Choudhury also addressed the gathering under the winter sky. Earlier a spectacular literary carnival led the participants to the festival venue in the southern part of the pre-historic city.

  • 9083 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Non-violence to practice: Dalai Lama

His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama today met the Tibet Support Group, Assam and said that the non-violent movement for freedom of Tibet will set an example for hundreds of other nations who are struggling for freedom across the globe.The 14th Dalai Lama was in Guwahati to take part in the ongoing Tibetan Art Festival, which is underway at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwhati. He appreciated the efforts of the Tibet Support Group, Assam for its continued support for the movement of millions of Tibetans in the northeastern part of India.“We must continue the freedom struggle through the way of non-violence, which is the Buddhist way. It is important for us to win the struggle. If the...

JFA, APC appeal for media restrain

Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA) and Arunachal Press Club (APC) have appealed to the media to exercise restrain while covering the border conflicts between the two neighbouring States in northeast India.The appeal was issued jointly today after the incident of firing by armed miscreants at Bihali reserve forest in Assam's Sonitpur district yesterday killing ten people and injuring eight others which has received wider media coverage in most of the regional media outlets including the Guwahati based satellite news channels.The tension have also mounted along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border areas after the incident of firing yesterday that forced the some organizations of the district to...

Prodyut Bora to deliver GPC Lecture

Promising young activist and scholar Prodyut Bora will deliver GPC Lecture tomorrow (Jan 1, 2014) at 3 pm in the Guwahati Press Club (GPC) auditorium. An IIM graduate and presently a national executive member of Bharatiya Janata Party, Bora is scheduled to speak about the role of youths in the political sphere of India in the coming days.Bora, who studied successively at Rashtriya Indian Military (Dehra Dun), Delhi Public School (Noida), St Stephen’s College (Delhi) and Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) will also highlight the new generation politics in the country in reference to world scenario.Member-journalists are requested to attend the interactive program.

GPC Lecture to be delivered by Jahnabi Goswami

Prominent activist Jahnabi Goswami will deliver a lecture on the latest trend of HIV/AIDS across the globe, in reference to Assam, tomorrow (Saturday, 21 December 2013) at Guwahati Press Club. The lecture cum interactive session will begin at 1 pm. Member-journalists are requested to attend the same.Jahnabi Goswami was born in 1976 and brought up at Kampur village in Nagaon district. She lost her father when she was just in Grade VII. The eldest amongst four siblings, her mother arranged her marriage when she was 18 to a businessman of Guwahati in 1994, without ‘checking on his antecedents.’ In 1995, her husband passed away leaving Jahnabi all alone with their three month old daughter...

DPS Guwahati shines at zonal meet

Delhi Public School, Guwahati has emerged champion in both the girls-14 and boys-14 category at the recently concluded CBSE east zone tennis tournament held at Taurian World School, Ranchi from 22 to 24 October last.In the final match of Girls-14 category, the DPS Guwahati team comprising Shivangi Ray Baruah and Jyanashree Saikia convincingly defeated their opponent team from Amity International School, Noida by 2-0. On the other hand, the DPS Guwahati team comprising Ronit Bora, Tathagat Tulsi Gogoi, Jishnu Baruah, Prateek Joy Phukan were declared joint winners in boys-14 section along with the Lotus Valley International School, Noida team.However the DPS Guwahati team in the boys-19 and...

Celebration of Hostel-6 Assam Engineering College

Assam Engineering College, Hostel-6 was established in the year 1963 to provide accommodation to the students of the College. From the day of its establishment, it has been "a home away from home" for a generation of engineers. As of now, the Hostel produces around one thousand technocrats serving various places of the world on service to the mankind through technology. The following programs are organized in connection with Golden Jubilee Celebration.Competition on Technical/Research Paper: To create awareness and increase popularity on research and project work, technical/research papers are invited from the Engineering students of Assam with theme “Conservation of Natural Resources”. 3(...

Physiotherapy concluded in press club

Over 60 media persons participated in a day long physiotherapy...

Physiotherapy camp for scribes in press club

The city based Purbanchal  Educational  Welfare Society in collaboration with Guwahati Press Club has organized a free physiotherapy and health camp for the scribes in the press club premises on 29 September next. The camp will start at 9.30 am and will continue till 4.00 pm. Organized as a mark for the occasion of World Physiotherapy Day, the event is supported by the Assam Branch of Indian Association of Physiotherapists.During the camp, the physicians and physiotherapists will provide consultation treatment for various pain related problems along with general heath check up including the blood sugar analysis .Dr NN Sharma will attend the camp as the consultant physicians and Dr...

Better working condition for media persons demanded

Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expressed concern at the helpless working condition of media persons, particularly those employed with private television channels. ''Nearly 80% working journalists of the state have to work with pitiable salaries, unlimited working hours without even a break in need and without any insurance facilities'', JFA President Rupam Barua said in a statement. Working journalists, engaged with satellite news channels of Assam, have to perform their duties in a vulnerable atmosphere with low wages, more than eight hours working period in a day, without appropriate leave days and off-days, and with no facility of life and health insurance coverage. Whenever the demand...

Media workshop on conflict reporting concludes

Several important issues of Armed Conflict Reporting and International Humanitarian Law were discussed during a day-long media workshop on the subject of armed conflict reporting and humanitarian law organized at the National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJA) today.The day-long workshop was organized jointly in collaboration with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), NLUJA and Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA). The programme was aimed at providing vital information to the working journalists of the region. Over 50 working journalist from different parts of Assam and Manipur participated in the workshop.ICRC Communication Coordinator Marek Resich explained the ICRC...