Festival of Letters by Sahitya Akademi

Sahitya Akademi, the National Academy of Letters, India, is completing 70 years this year and to commemorate this occasion, the ‘Sahityotsav’ celebrated every year by the Akademi is being celebrated this time as the world’s largest literary festival.

Dr. K. Sreenivasrao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, informed that more than 1100 renowned writers and scholars are participating in more than 190 sessions, and more than 175 languages of the country will also be represented in it. Honourable Governors of three states – Arif Mohammed Khan (Kerala), Sri Bishwabhusan Harichandan (Chhattisgarh), Sri C.V. Anand Bose (West Bengal) will also participate in the Festival.

The Festival of Letters, organized in more than 190 sessions, will begin with the exhibition of the major activities of the Akademi throughout the previous year. The highlight of the Festival will be the presentation ceremony of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2023, which will be held on March 12 at 5:30 pm in the Kamani Auditorium. The Chief Guest of the Awards Presentation Ceremony will be Pratibha Rai, the distinguished Odia writer. The prestigious Samvatsar lecture will be delivered by renowned Urdu writer and lyricist Gulzar on March 13 at 6.30 pm at the Meghdoot open theatre.

Apart from the regular programmes like Multilingual Poetry reading and Short story reading, Yuva Sahiti, Asmita, Purvottari, Panel Discussions on Bhakti Literature of India, Children’s literature in India, Idea of India, Importance of Mother tongues, Tribal Poets’ and Writers’ Meet, Novels of Future, Theater as a Cultural Expression. There will also be Panel Discussions and symposia on various topics like Cultural Heritage of India, Science Fiction in Indian Languages, Ethics and Literature, Biographies in Indian Languages, Literature and Social Movements, Indian Literature Abroad. The topic of this time’s national seminar is – Post-Independence Indian Literature. Apart from this, important programmes like All India Differently Abled Writers’ Meet, LGBTQ Writers’ Meet, a Seminar on the occasion of the birth centenary of Mir Taqi Mir, a symposium on Gopichand Narang will also be organized. Painting competitions, literary quizzes, and many other competitions are also being organized for children, in which more than 1000 children are expected to participate from Delhi and NCR. Under the cultural programmes, Bharatanatyam by Rajshree Warrier, a special programme ‘Kasturi’ to pay tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Santvani singing by Mahesharam, and the presentation of the play ‘Samrat Ashok’ written by Dayaprakash Sinha will also be staged. Some of the eminent writers and scholars of Hindi and various Indian languages who are participating in this six-day Festival are – S.L. Bhayrappa, Chandrashekhar Kambar, Paul Zacharia, Abid Surti, K. Satchidanandan, Chitra Mudgal, Mridula Garg, K. Enok, Mamang Dai, H.S. Shivaprakash, Sachin Ketkar, Namita Gokhale, Kula Saikia, Y.D. Thongchi, Malashri Lal, Kapil Kapoor, Arundhati Subramaniam, Rakhshanda Jaleel, Rana Nair, Varsha Das, Sudha Seshayyan, Udaya Narayana Singh, Arun Khopkar, Sheen Kaaf Nizam, etc.

Date & Time: 11 March to 16 March 2024
Venue: Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi