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Brahmaputra Literary Festival ends today

By Nava Thakuria |

The three day Brahmaputra Literary Festival will come to end today, where Assam Governor Banwari Lal Purohit is scheduled to grace the closing ceremony as the chief guest. The function starting at 3 pm in Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra will also be graced by Gauhati University vice-chancellor Dr Mridul Hazarika, eminent Italian author Carlo Pizzaati and Indian writer Narendra Kohli with few others.

Meanwhile, thousands joined and observed various sessions on different topics & genres of literature & cinema, conversations, book reading, interactions in six venues namely Tagore Hall, Pandita Ramabai Hall, Premchand Hall, Subramania Bharathi Hall, Nalinibala Devi Hall and Bezbarua Hall.

In fact, Sankardev Kalakshetra cultural complex in the city turns into a fabulous confluence of writers, intellectuals, cultural personalities, vibrant appreciators and enthusiast observers from various parts of the globe on the occasion of 1st Brahmaputra Lit-Fest.

Eminent authors including Randy Taguchi from Japan, Neal Hall from USA, 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 graced the venue.

Many prominent nationally acclaimed writers and cultural personalities like Asha Parekh, Shatrughan Sinha, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra Damodar Mauzo, Subhash Kashyap, Makarand Paranjpe, Khalid Mohammed, Dipa Choudhuri, Manju Bora, Bhagirath Mishra, Amar Mitra, Binod Ghosal have participated in various sessions of the festival including few 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 etc contributed for various panel discussions.

Similarly, Utpal Borpujari, Nilim Kumar, Suparna Lahiri Baruah, Mirza Ali Baig, Prasanta Rajguru, Mrinal Talukdar, Arindam Barkataki, Samrat Chowdhury, Nanigopal Mahanta, Imran Hussain, Basab Roy, Sanjay Chakrabarty, Deviprasad Singha, Ratna Barali Talukdar, Atanu Bhattachrya, Geetali Borah etc joined in the cohesive talks.

The festival witnessed the gala opening on Saturday precluding all serious panel discussions on literature and related other creative activities. 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,” said Dr Rita Choudhury, director of NBT.

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Senior journalist based in Guwahati.
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